Match report in The Sun today

[eastlondonseagull]

A joke. Clearly not at the game. Wankers

 

[El Presidente]

Should read The Times mate

When Fabian Delph joined Aston Villa from Leeds United last August, his new club booked him into a hotel.

“It was haunted,” he said. “I went in the bedroom and things were moving, everything. This was in the evening after training. It was my first day. I spent maybe 40 minutes there. I was straight to the Radisson.”

But if the 18-year-old midfield player draws the line at poltergeists, he is unafraid to face the fiercest challenges on the field and was undaunted at the prospect of tackling Dennis Wise, the Leeds manager, as a 16-year-old. He also showed on Saturday that he can scare defences when given the chance, scoring his first goal for Aston Villa on only his sixth start.

It might be argued that he had nothing more to prove against Coca-Cola League One opposition, particularly Brighton & Hove Albion - last January at Withdean Stadium he ran the length of the field to score one of the goals of the season. But he needs to grab any chance to shine, and he showed that turbo-powered acceleration again after 15 minutes, his forward gallop ended by a crude challenge from Alan Navarro.
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After being denied by a point-blank save from Michel Kuipers, Delph demonstrated a cool head and a touch of class when sent through by James Milner after 62 minutes, rounding two defenders before beating Kuipers to put the game out of Brighton’s reach.

Gustavo Poyet, the Brighton manager, was coaching at Leeds when Wise gave Delph his debut. “He looked very skinny, very small, maybe not ready, but he’s a tough guy,” he said. “The staff played every week on Thursday afternoons against the under-16s and he had a few clashes, more with Dennis than with me. You saw how strong and tough he was.”

Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, made no promise of first-team football when he signed Delph and would put no time scale on his development into a first-team regular, but he will be delighted to hear the player’s mature analysis of his own performance and prospects.

“I was very sloppy in the first half, so I think I’ve got a lot more to add,” Delph said. “I’ve had a few chances this season and not done particularly well, so I’ve got nobody to blame apart from myself. Obviously it’s a big difference here and with time, experience and working with better players, I’ll get there.

“If I’m being honest, my standard has dropped quite a lot, but that’s down to not playing games. Hopefully, with the FA Cup and a lot of games coming up, I can get the odd game here and there and manage to get myself back to where I was.”

Nathan Delfouneso gave Villa an early lead but Brighton refused to panic and played their way back into the game, Tommy Elphick equalising after the home side failed to clear a corner kick. Villa, though, retook the lead when Ashley Young was left unmarked to head in Stewart Downing’s cross and Delph’s goal made Nicky Forster’s 90th-minute effort a consolation.

Brighton rewarded the 6,400 travelling supporters who outsang the Holte End by showing that they could live with a top team for long periods. But now the trick is to lift themselves again tomorrow for an away match against Stockport County in the somewhat less palatial surroundings of Edgeley Park as they attempt to put distance between themselves and the bottom four of League One..

“The way we equalised, kept playing our way and kept trying was important,” Poyet said. “We made two or three mistakes that you sometimes get away with in League One. Against Premier League players, you don’t. I’m sure they’re going to learn.”

 

[El Presidente]

Should read The Times mate

When Fabian Delph joined Aston Villa from Leeds United last August, his new club booked him into a hotel.

“It was haunted,” he said. “I went in the bedroom and things were moving, everything. This was in the evening after training. It was my first day. I spent maybe 40 minutes there. I was straight to the Radisson.”

But if the 18-year-old midfield player draws the line at poltergeists, he is unafraid to face the fiercest challenges on the field and was undaunted at the prospect of tackling Dennis Wise, the Leeds manager, as a 16-year-old. He also showed on Saturday that he can scare defences when given the chance, scoring his first goal for Aston Villa on only his sixth start.

It might be argued that he had nothing more to prove against Coca-Cola League One opposition, particularly Brighton & Hove Albion - last January at Withdean Stadium he ran the length of the field to score one of the goals of the season. But he needs to grab any chance to shine, and he showed that turbo-powered acceleration again after 15 minutes, his forward gallop ended by a crude challenge from Alan Navarro.
Related Links

After being denied by a point-blank save from Michel Kuipers, Delph demonstrated a cool head and a touch of class when sent through by James Milner after 62 minutes, rounding two defenders before beating Kuipers to put the game out of Brighton’s reach.

Gustavo Poyet, the Brighton manager, was coaching at Leeds when Wise gave Delph his debut. “He looked very skinny, very small, maybe not ready, but he’s a tough guy,” he said. “The staff played every week on Thursday afternoons against the under-16s and he had a few clashes, more with Dennis than with me. You saw how strong and tough he was.”

Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, made no promise of first-team football when he signed Delph and would put no time scale on his development into a first-team regular, but he will be delighted to hear the player’s mature analysis of his own performance and prospects.

“I was very sloppy in the first half, so I think I’ve got a lot more to add,” Delph said. “I’ve had a few chances this season and not done particularly well, so I’ve got nobody to blame apart from myself. Obviously it’s a big difference here and with time, experience and working with better players, I’ll get there.

“If I’m being honest, my standard has dropped quite a lot, but that’s down to not playing games. Hopefully, with the FA Cup and a lot of games coming up, I can get the odd game here and there and manage to get myself back to where I was.”

Nathan Delfouneso gave Villa an early lead but Brighton refused to panic and played their way back into the game, Tommy Elphick equalising after the home side failed to clear a corner kick. Villa, though, retook the lead when Ashley Young was left unmarked to head in Stewart Downing’s cross and Delph’s goal made Nicky Forster’s 90th-minute effort a consolation.

Brighton rewarded the 6,400 travelling supporters who outsang the Holte End by showing that they could live with a top team for long periods. But now the trick is to lift themselves again tomorrow for an away match against Stockport County in the somewhat less palatial surroundings of Edgeley Park as they attempt to put distance between themselves and the bottom four of League One..

“The way we equalised, kept playing our way and kept trying was important,” Poyet said. “We made two or three mistakes that you sometimes get away with in League One. Against Premier League players, you don’t. I’m sure they’re going to learn.”

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Much better, El Pres, thanks. Am fuming at the lazy Sun woman filling up half her match report with the ghost story, before mentioning the match. Apparently they eased past us... Did they f***. We gave them a bloody good game, and if Murray hadn't squandered that chance I'm the six-yard box in first half, we could've gone in ahead at half time.

 

[Arthur]

Much better, El Pres, thanks. Am fuming at the lazy Sun woman filling up half her match report with the ghost story, before mentioning the match. Apparently they eased past us... Did they f***. We gave them a bloody good game, and if Murray hadn't squandered that chance I'm the six-yard box in first half, we could've gone in ahead at half time.

Well just goes to show how different people see the game. I thought they battered us and the score line flattered us massively.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Much better, El Pres, thanks. Am fuming at the lazy Sun woman filling up half her match report with the ghost story, before mentioning the match. Apparently they eased past us... Did they f***. We gave them a bloody good game, and if Murray hadn't squandered that chance I'm the six-yard box in first half, we could've gone in ahead at half time.

Would that be the one he was off-side for?

 

[Mendoza]

Well just goes to show how different people see the game. I thought they battered us and the score line flattered us massively.

I tend to agree with you. Yes we kept pocession well and past it around, but we didnt really create much. Maybe a chance for Murray with his volley. But they hit the post, Kuipers save from Delph and they could have easily been 5-1 up.

Forsters goal made it closer than the match suggested, especially as we kept the ball in their half for the last couple of minutes and injury time. But again we didnt create anything despite all the pocession

When Villa scored they made it look ridiculously easy

 

[Tooting Gull]

To be fair, there is always a difference between Sunday paper reports and Monday reports. If you want a blow by blow account of the match, and the manager's reactions to it and the main incidents, that's in the Sundays.

It is assumed that by Monday morning most people who give a shit know what the score was on Saturday afternoon and roughly what happened, so they look for something else. In this case, the paranormal.

 

[alan partridge]

That Delph sounds like a level headed chap from that Times article

 

[Tooting Gull]

Well just goes to show how different people see the game. I thought they battered us and the score line flattered us massively.

I agree with that, at least in the sense that you KNOW when you're watching whether it is really game on. And I felt that for the three minutes before half-time, until two minutes after half-time - ie five minutes playing time.

Didn't spoil a superb day out, though.

 

[Dirty Dave]

A joke. Clearly not at the game. Wankers

I wouldn't worry about it mate, yesterday the News of the World had Wayne Rooney in their F A Cup star team of the day

 

[bristolseagull]

Well just goes to show how different people see the game. I thought they battered us and the score line flattered us massively.

yeah, I have to agree with most of that, I think some people had a pair of rose tinted glases under their seat.

Don't get me wrong, I thought we played as well as we could have done, but the gulf in class was immense, and Vill aplayed most of the game in 3rd gear....

 

[franks brother]

The Daily Mirror has FDM in the team of the week

 

[eastlondonseagull]

It is funny how there are the different perspectives. I certainly do wear rose-tinted glasses! But I thought we made them look quite average at times. Of course we rode our luck, and Kuipers pulled off a couple of great saves, but we gave them a good game. I'm more pissed off that the Sun woman only gave a cursory mention to the game, while saying nothing of any real detail. That, plus sixes all round for the players and the usual cliches, made me wonder whether she'd actually been to the game. My mate once wrote a march report for a broadsheet stuck in traffic on the M1, after all...

 

[eastlondonseagull]

I wouldn't worry about it mate, yesterday the News of the World had Wayne Rooney in their F A Cup star team of the day

 

[SpidersLegs]

Just sent off an angry email to her about her total lack of respect in her match report!

 

[Tooting Gull]

Well, if you get a response I am predicting it will be exactly the same as the last time there was one of these reactions (Amy Lawrence at West Ham) which is that she will say she included Brighton quotes in the report, the space got cut, and they all got subbed out. The sub should have kept a couple of Brighton quotes in at the end.

You can't criticise the choice of angle from a national perspective. Villa won the game. Delph played very well and doesn't get a lot of pitch-time, so it's more interesting to hear a bit about him than Milner or Young yet again.

If Forster's late goal had been an equaliser, things would of course have been very different in today's papers...

 

[teaboy]

I think it was a fair result, and just about a fair score. Villa DID outclass us (as you'd expect!) but we played well, kept the ball and got stuck in. Villa were a yard of pace quicker and half a second quicker to react. We also didn't have the final ball we really needed.

It's well worth remembering Villa were not playing their first team from the start, and probably didn't get into top gear. Certainly no embarrasment for us though.

 

[Mellotron]

Without rose tinteds on -

We pretty much matched them first half, and 1-1 was a fair scoreline.

Second half Villa stepped it up, and our fitness began to tell towards the end.

Considering the what ifs:

Collins getting sent off for 2nd yellow with a handball that blocked Murray being through on goal with Collins already on a yellow. Collins was an absolute rock in the 2nd half and without him they would've struggled, Murray completely did Davies a couple of times.
Murray's volley in first half.
If Murray had reached Carole's cross in 2nd half with a header it was going in.

So all in all, 3-1 or 3-2 was about the right result.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Without rose tinteds on -

We pretty much matched them first half, and 1-1 was a fair scoreline.

Second half Villa stepped it up, and our fitness began to tell towards the end.

Considering the what ifs:

Collins getting sent off for 2nd yellow with a handball that blocked Murray being through on goal with Collins already on a yellow. Collins was an absolute rock in the 2nd half and without him they would've struggled, Murray completely did Davies a couple of times.
Murray's volley in first half.
If Murray had reached Carole's cross in 2nd half with a header it was going in.

So all in all, 3-1 or 3-2 was about the right result.

Absolutely. Was thinking that about Collins, too. And you're right, Murray DID Davies big time. That first attack of ours in second half followed a lovely run from Bennett (I think), such a shame nothing came of it. We were tired in the end, but did much more than we've been credited for.