I think it's safe to say the manager is under pressure and close to losing or leaving his job unless we see wins. It's not nice to write but football is different today than it was a generation ago. These days there are so many voices and so much demand, that a manager wont get the time that he maybe should.
But this is Aston Villa and the game is broken. Things don't really surprise me anymore. I've seen two examples this morning that summed it up for me also. First, football in general and I just heard David Moyes talk about his job at West Ham. What has he been smoking?
And for us, I see the Club trying to create their own version of YouTube. What I mean is they are using YouTube to put teaser videos up and then want us to visit a new video site for the Club to watch the full video. It's just cheap and reminiscent of someone that doesn't know how the internet works. This isn't the first time the Club have tried this or done something like this.
These two things have nothing to do with Burnley tomorrow so I should focus on that and I'm going to make it easy. First, we shouldn't play Jota or Lansbury. Second, we have to do everything we can to get the ball out wide, quickly and get crosses in to Wes. Now, I know this sounds simple, but football isn't rocket science.
What I'm really trying to get us away from is slowly moving forward so the opposition team have everyone back behind the ball and we are 35 yards out. We're not going to beat anyone that way even with Jack, who spends a lot of time on the ball, because it's like trying to run through the playground with the ball at your feet.
We have to get the ball out wide, in space and make crosses to Wes and maybe one or two others making runs and we have to do it quickly. I might be wrong and I don't even know where to look for stats on this, but I'm not seeing a lot of it and when we did it at Watford once and I can't remember the last time we did or when Wes looked like he was playing the position we bought him for.
And the manager can't publicly blame the players again. Sure, in the first half against Watford we were probably not running around as much, but we were only losing 1-0 at half time. When he read the "riot act" to them at half time and they ran themselves into the ground for him in the second, we conceded two against ten men. This isn't the Championship and it's not just about running around.
In this League it's about having a plan. If that plan focuses on getting crosses in, so be it. I think it's worth a go because slowly trying to approach the penalty area and play through a team doesn't seem to be working. I can do diagrams if needed, I've thought this much about this. Back tomorrow but tomorrow is must win. Have a nice evening everyone.