' THAT IS TWO POINTS DROPPED '

It was a game that we needed to get maximum points in this evening, I said a couple of weeks ago that it is a pointless exercise in saying that we played well but don't reap the rewards by getting the points.

Aston Villa are a side we must be beating at home if we hoped to stay in this division.

The team sheet was very close to what I hoped it would be, the front 6 were exactly what I wanted to see but I will hold my hand up here and now that I didn't think Turner deserved a starting place tonight after recent performances but he was immense, his tackling was top drawer and he was my choice for man of the match.

I am sure others will say David Marshall should get the plaudits and his two saves in the last few minutes were world class, yes I said world class, the very last save of the game was insane, I don't think I have seen anything quite like it, there should have been no way he could get a hand to it but he did and not only that he managed to tip it over with his left hand whilst alreDy going in the opposite direction.

But Turner for myself was strong in the challenge when he had to be, he faced difficult balks but dealt with them very well and he done it all game.

I thought that Catherine or McNaughton would start but I expected Fabio to be given a reprieve but on the left in place of the young Declan John, who looks a very promising player but for me his inexperience is being shown up and maybe it is the time to take him out of the side for his own development.

The first half I was glad to see City have a go and be a lot more adventurous with their play and we should have been rewarded with a goal and from my position a stonewall penalty, Fraizer Campbell was in the air and he was forearmed in the back, I still cannot fathom how Chris Foy didn't award the foul.

Wilfred Zaha was having plenty of the ball in the first half but with Villa playing a considerable high line, why was he not choosing to go on the outside of the full back, he got the pace and definitely got the skill to beat a man but I found it frustrating that he insisted on coming inside on every attack.

Craig Noone had an excellent first half and it only proved the decision to leave him on the bench for the Swansea game very bizarre indeed, Noone was a constant threat to Villa and much of our best play went through him.

Losing Jordon Mutch to injury was a massive blow and he is a real presence in the middle of the park, strong on the ball, very direct runs and an aerial threat too, it was the 31st minute and my optimism subsided considerably when he was substituted.

I defended Kenwyne Jones after the Swansea defeat, as my thought process was that if you don't get ball to a striker there is very little he can do, this evening Jones won his fair share of headers but he gave a lot if ball away and on time it appeared that he was not bothered about chasing balls down and putting pressure on defenders, I think City fans have always been supportive of players who give their all but they will quickly turn on any player who is not committed, or appears to be not committed, to the cause.

The second half worried me, we had lost our drive, maybe the Mutch injury was partly the reason but cannot be the absolute reason. We found ourselves on the back foot and had it not been for poor finishing by Villa's strikers we were lucky to keep a clean sheet.

It was pleasing to witness a performance that was a complete contrast to the one we witnessed on Saturday, managing to keep our first clean sheet in the league under Ole but the feeling at the final whistle was that we dropped two points tonight and it was not a point gained. I didn't want to type these words but I now believe that unless we win against Hull a week on Saturday then relegation is just a matter of time for us.

We're probably going to go down, but tonight was a good game. Decent performance, and a decent atmosphere. I enjoyed the game. All we can do is our best. What will be, will be!

Ben Turner was fantastic and showed that he is worthy of a place in this team. We lost a lot of impetus when Mutch went off and without him we struggled to get Noone into the game which was a large part of our first half success.

The most worrying is we don't have a natural goal scorer or a poacher. Especially from crosses and set pieces we are causing problems in the opposition box but there's no one there to sniff out a goal or be in the right place at the right time.

I think if we had one tonight we may have had half a chance of staying up. Now I'm not too sure.

But who cares. Once Cardiff always Cardiff

It's one point gained. The table doesn't look too good but it's still in our grasp, we were at home but it's not always the advantage. Villa's away form is brilliant and they had far better options than us. Point gained

Sunderland was 2 points dropped. Villa are a better side than us with a good away record. We rode our luck and could still be playing now and won't have scored.
A point was the most we deserved.

Aston Villa are a massive club.

I think our problems as fans are typified by a quote in your post Carl.

"Aston Villa are a side we must be beating"

We are a championship club playing in the premiership.
We have some premiership quality players but not enough to call us a premier squad.

The Expectation levels of our players are far to high.

I wasn't there because I live in Germany but if we go down its because of the 2 points we lost against Sunderland! They hurt us real bad..

Spot on Carl.

I do agree to a degree, It was points dropped however it could Have gone either way thankfully Marshall pulled off a brilliant save towards the end I had visions of spurs home for the last 5 minutes of the game also Ogbonglahor on his best day 9 times out of 10 would have bit chances away that chance he squindered with bentekes flick was shocking and thankfully he took too long

We are not scoring goals, until we do we are fucked, no matter how good we might play sometimes or how many good saves Marshall makes it counts for shit.

First half ours second half theirs so all in all a good point

A point won in my opinion Carl, and a lucky one at that, because without Marshall and Turner who were both fantastic last night we wouldn't even have got that.

Overall we played well and Villa contributed to an entertaining game but last night again highlighted our problem, Where are the goals going to come from? OGS is doing his best but the damage was done months ago when Messrs Moody and Mackay managed to spend £35m+ but didn't get a player to score the goals we need.

The save by Marshall was brilliant and reminded me of Bill Irwin against Leeds Utd back in 1972, that was voted save of the season, and surely there won't be a better save than that one by Marshall this season.

We need a miracle but the problem is they are few and far between and I just can't see us getting more than 30-33 points and it would be a miracle if we stay in this division with that number of points.

i have slated ben turner the last couple of games, at times he has been poor in possession and does look clumsy on the ball, however when running back towards the goal his tackling was outstanding last night and you cannot fault that part of his game.

one of our best performers last night and probably his best game for us this season. daehli looks a tricky little player too, but losing mutch was a huge blow. eikrem did not do a lot wrong and some nice passes but didnt offer any direct running which you get from mutch.

kenwyn was shocking last night, lazy, giving away cheap ball, when presented with a couple of free headers which you would have thought was his strong point, they were weak. Many times he was looking the wrong way and couldnt be bothered to chase anyone down and put them under pressure. after 70mins+ i was hoping to have a look at berget as a replacement for him.

def an improved performance, but we really need pts now and i dont personally care how they come. hull is a huge game and lets hope results go in our favour for a change.

A point gained.

We're not going down. We'll beat Hull and Fulham at home

COME ON

It's a point gained.

"Aston Villa are a side we must be beating at home if we hoped to stay in this division"

This is why we have a shit atmosphere......Who the hell do you think we are ?????

Last season we were a championship club, this year we are a championship team in the premier, next year we will be a better championship side than the one that was promoted last season.....

Carl I gotta be honest I am amazed that you think we should be beating teams like Villa.

They were a very good side in my opinion and far better than some of the dross we've seen down here this season.
The had pace and movement on the break and our defence (Turner in particular) had to be on top of their game.

I thought (as you said) that losing Mutch was a huge blow as the Mutch and Medel partnership is the only one we have that can cope with a 4-4-2.

Having said that, I thought Eikrem looked decent and he receives the ball on the front foot more than Whitts does.

Personally i thought Ole missed a trick by not bring off Kenwynne after 60 and putting Cowie/Berget on the wing and shifting Daehli into the hole.

I think this looks to be the position he will play and I'd love to see him play there Saturday. You could see his ability but he just lacked that extra yard to get away from the defender though that Bacuna does look very quick to be fair.

On the whole, I thought in the battle between the full backs and wingers the full backs came out on top last night.

If we go down I honestly don't think last night will be the game that cost us. Sunderland and West Ham home, Stoke and Villa away will be the games that cost us.

It was a clean sheet and will give us confidence going forward. We have looked at sixes and sevens defensively for a long time now, so it was good to see our defence face up to the battle last night.

I have to single out Turner for what was in my opinion one of the best defensive displays I have seen for a long time. Some of his recovery play was unbelievable, not to mention some of his heading to clear crosses.
I hope those who must have a scapegoat will have the balls to praise his performance last night.

Hull and Fulham are bigger - must get out of bottom 3 then lesss pressure - as Annis says there are worse teams than us

It was a game that we needed to get maximum points in this evening, I said a couple of weeks ago that it is a pointless exercise in saying that we played well but don't reap the rewards by getting the points.

Aston Villa are a side we must be beating at home if we hoped to stay in this division.

The team sheet was very close to what I hoped it would be, the front 6 were exactly what I wanted to see but I will hold my hand up here and now that I didn't think Turner deserved a starting place tonight after recent performances but he was immense, his tackling was top drawer and he was my choice for man of the match.

I am sure others will say David Marshall should get the plaudits and his two saves in the last few minutes were world class, yes I said world class, the very last save of the game was insane, I don't think I have seen anything quite like it, there should have been no way he could get a hand to it but he did and not only that he managed to tip it over with his left hand whilst alreDy going in the opposite direction.

But Turner for myself was strong in the challenge when he had to be, he faced difficult balks but dealt with them very well and he done it all game.

I thought that Catherine or McNaughton would start but I expected Fabio to be given a reprieve but on the left in place of the young Declan John, who looks a very promising player but for me his inexperience is being shown up and maybe it is the time to take him out of the side for his own development.

The first half I was glad to see City have a go and be a lot more adventurous with their play and we should have been rewarded with a goal and from my position a stonewall penalty, Fraizer Campbell was in the air and he was forearmed in the back, I still cannot fathom how Chris Foy didn't award the foul.

Wilfred Zaha was having plenty of the ball in the first half but with Villa playing a considerable high line, why was he not choosing to go on the outside of the full back, he got the pace and definitely got the skill to beat a man but I found it frustrating that he insisted on coming inside on every attack.

Craig Noone had an excellent first half and it only proved the decision to leave him on the bench for the Swansea game very bizarre indeed, Noone was a constant threat to Villa and much of our best play went through him.

Losing Jordon Mutch to injury was a massive blow and he is a real presence in the middle of the park, strong on the ball, very direct runs and an aerial threat too, it was the 31st minute and my optimism subsided considerably when he was substituted.

I defended Kenwyne Jones after the Swansea defeat, as my thought process was that if you don't get ball to a striker there is very little he can do, this evening Jones won his fair share of headers but he gave a lot if ball away and on time it appeared that he was not bothered about chasing balls down and putting pressure on defenders, I think City fans have always been supportive of players who give their all but they will quickly turn on any player who is not committed, or appears to be not committed, to the cause.

The second half worried me, we had lost our drive, maybe the Mutch injury was partly the reason but cannot be the absolute reason. We found ourselves on the back foot and had it not been for poor finishing by Villa's strikers we were lucky to keep a clean sheet.

It was pleasing to witness a performance that was a complete contrast to the one we witnessed on Saturday, managing to keep our first clean sheet in the league under Ole but the feeling at the final whistle was that we dropped two points tonight and it was not a point gained. I didn't want to type these words but I now believe that unless we win against Hull a week on Saturday then relegation is just a matter of time for us.

It was not 2 points dropped. Villa could have said the same. Over 90 minutes even the most one eyed city fan would have to agree it was a fair result over the duration of the match.
This result would have been fine in eg October but coming where it is in the season, every game is a must win but in reality expecting to beat Villa with experienced PL players and internationals is fantasy.
City can bemoan their bad luck, woodwork again, and injuries etc but they are not good enough.
The sooner fans realise that the better as each game that goes by not won, will only bring us closer to the inevitable relegation.
Sad but true.

You get slated on this site for speaking the truth but here goes.

So far I have not seen anything particular that has made me think we can do this.

OGS had his chance in the transfer market, he signed some good players, but not really the players we need to stay up.

Hull bagged Doyle and Jelavic, Jelavic being one of the better strikers I've seen play.

We signed Kenwynne Jones. When your down the bottom, not scoring, or winning surely you need proven scorers.

Got tactics wrong against Swansea, got subs wrong also. Up at utd (his old team) we were completely outclassed by a very very poor utd side. A utd side who drew home to Fulham (another ex utd man managing to get it right there)

West ham game at home was a must win, even with ten men we conceded again.

I'm sorry to be the voice of reality here, but we won't stay up. I can't see any other team performing worse than us.

On a mega plus side, being a city fan for 20+ years going down a division should get rid of all these f*cking plastics we have.

agree with above it is a point gained, cant see how it is 2 points dropped when we were never in the lead and villa are realistically a better team than us since i can remember. hull however we should definitely be looking to beat. hopefully ole gets an even betetr feel for his team against wigan.

Some people don't accept the reality - City are swimming against the tide and it grieves me to say it but what a wasted opportunity if they don't survive; what a complete shambles made of their inaugural season in the PL.

Fans can say KTF all they like, but xmas will come quicker than City winning games sufficiently to keep them up.

I'll be back for another season whatever division, as I have done since the 70's.

[quote="Cornishblue"]Hull bagged Doyle and Jelavic, Jelavic being one of the better strikers I've seen play.

Up at utd (his old team) we were completely outclassed by a very very poor utd side. A utd side who drew home to Fulham (another ex utd man managing to get it right there)
quote]

Are sure Jelavic is one of the better strikers you've seen ? Didn't get a kick against us and has hardly scored after a great start at Everton. I think by "Doyle" you mean Long and after watching him against us for WBA I'm glad we've got Campbell and Jones because he was off-side more times than even Earnie at his peak Hardly pulling up trees in terms of goals this season either.

Did you go to Old Trafford ? Utd dominated for the first 15 mins and the last 15 minutes, we competed very well in that game and the stats will back that up.

We are in trouble but are there at least 3 teams at our level or worse who are in the same difficulties, Fulham, Hull and Norwich with Sunderland West Brom and others far from safe. My prediction is Fulham, Norwich and either us or Hull (depending on the result against them a week Saturday).

I did go to Utd, and no we didn't compete. Didn't even come close. Utd fans all saying how relieved a poor side turned up on the night.

Sorry yes long not Doyle.

Jelavic is very talented he has technique , scores nice goals. His movement is usually quite decent. Did a good job for Rangers also.

Long and Jelavic versus Campbell and Jones. Only a crack toting chest wig gold medallion man would prefer our players.

That's why our strikers cost £2.5 million combined

If you shop in hyper value you buy shit

Aston Villa are a massive club.

I think our problems as fans are typified by a quote in your post Carl.

"Aston Villa are a side we must be beating"

We are a championship club playing in the premiership.
We have some premiership quality players but not enough to call us a premier squad.

The Expectation levels of our players are far to high.

These are the games where we have to give all and get the 3 points! Hate it when people say we shouldn't expect to win.. Especially at home!
If villa are a "massive" team, might aswel play to lose or draw for every team that is a "massive" team. If we have a mentality of thinking we are just a championship team... We might aswel give up now! Starting next league game against hull, that is a must win.. Anyone saying we shouldn't expect to win against hull are deluded!

Aston Villa are a massive club.

I think our problems as fans are typified by a quote in your post Carl.

"Aston Villa are a side we must be beating"

We are a championship club playing in the premiership.
We have some premiership quality players but not enough to call us a premier squad.

The Expectation levels of our players are far to high.

Disagree Tony and I think, not being funny here, it is that thought process of no belief that is part of the problem with our lack of support from the stands.

We are not a championship club playing in the Premier League, we are a Premier League club with Premier League players.

Marshall, Caulker, Medel, Noone, Bellamy, Campbell, Mutch, Zaha, Fabio, Jones are all players who have Premier League pedigree or are good enough to play regularly in the Premier League.

Aston Villa are a massive club but have struggled in the league this season and last, history is history but the team on the pitch today is what we face and not their previous glory years and for that reason I still believe it was two points dropped last night.

Aston Villa are a massive club.

I think our problems as fans are typified by a quote in your post Carl.

"Aston Villa are a side we must be beating"

We are a championship club playing in the premiership.
We have some premiership quality players but not enough to call us a premier squad.

The Expectation levels of our players are far to high.

Disagree Tony and I think, not being funny here, it is that thought process of no belief that is part of the problem with our lack of support from the stands.

We are not a championship club playing in the Premier League, we are a Premier League club with Premier League players.

Marshall, Caulker, Medel, Noone, Bellamy, Campbell, Mutch, Zaha, Fabio, Jones are all players who have Premier League pedigree or are good enough to play regularly in the Premier League.

Aston Villa are a massive club but have struggled in the league this season and last, history is history but the team on the pitch today is what we face and not their previous glory years and for that reason I still believe it was two points dropped last night.

This season villa have done very well away from home 1 pt gained for me