It may have not been pretty or too exciting, but boy did Villa (and Steve Bruce) need those three points away to Middlesbrough. A solid performance by James Chester and Tommy Elphick, with Mile Jedinak in front of them, kept Boro quiet, while a great assist by Albert Adomah set up the Robert Snodgrass winner.
Villa are currently playing catch-up, but the end-of-year win certainly helped get things back on track going into 2018.
Despite Steve Bruce’s unnecessary comments after the game, at least now the players should be fired up for the year ahead.
Promotion is the aim and there will be no excuses for failure.
UTV
Highlights
#Boro vs #AVFC highlights. UTV ???? pic.twitter.com/P0piOx6FVg
— MY OLD MAN SAID (@oldmansaid) December 30, 2017
Five Reasons…
Timing
If any team was in need of a win to re-focus them going into the new year, Aston Villa were desperate for one. It was perhaps the first time going into a game this season Villa fans were apathetic about the forthcoming result. So expectations weren’t exactly high.
Can Villa stop the rot vs Boro? Pulis has never lost at home to a Bruce team. #Boro vs #AVFC Predictions? ????
— MY OLD MAN SAID (@oldmansaid) December 29, 2017
Having slumped to 9th in the league after five winless games, the away win thanks to a Robert Snodgrass winner, now sees Villa on the edge of the play-off picture. A home win against Bristol City should see them back in the top six.
Wolves maybe out of sight in terms of the title, but Villa can still aim for the final automatic place, but they still need to become more convincing as a team.
It’s also Steve Bruce’s birthday today (57), so from his point of view, perhaps there was no better present.
Tommy
People thought MOMS was insane when we’ve been suggesting that Tommy Elphick should be the go-to guy to replace John Terry. Steve Bruce has tried every option (apart from Micah Richards) before he finally succumbed to playing the Bournemouth captain. If only he had listened to MOMS, Villa would probably be two or three points better off.
While Elphick had an mixed start to his Villa career, you cannot escape the fact he played centre-back and captained the Cherries to promotion to the Premier League. You know, the exact same thing Villa are fumbling around trying to achieve.
He’s also played alongside James Chester last season, so can form a more familiar centre-back partnership than anybody else in the squad.
With that in mind, he was always a better bet then Chris Samba or playing Mile Jedinak out of position.
Certainly in our book, he was the man of the match in terms of player ratings.
If he gets his confidence back, then Villa will have three legitimate top level centre backs at this level.
The Dribbler
As mentioned previously in this column, Jack Grealish has showed signs of having fresh focus after returning back from injury. There is still work to be done in terms of syncing up with his teammates and vice versa to make him more effective in terms of the team. If he develops more of a cutting edge then he may have a bigger role to play this season.
Blues Won
Yep, Small Heath finally winning is a positive. The Blues took three points away from Leeds, one of the teams that have taken advantage of Villa’s recent slump. Which leads us to the final reason to be cheerful…
Contenders Slump
Apart from Derby, all the other four teams chasing the automatic promotion berth (below Wolves) that are now currently filling the play-off spots above Villa, all lost. So after our winless misadventures earlier in the month, Villa gained back three points on Cardiff, Bristol City, Leeds and Sheffield United.
With Bristol City up next, there’s a chance to again reign in another three points on a direct rival. With Derby playing Sheffield United also, there would be another guaranteed gain for Villa on at least one other team above them, if they win.
UTV
The next MOMS podcast episode will air after the Bristol City clash. Subscribe below to the show on Apple/iTunes
It’s about the squad. Whats happening with the forhotten man, Bjarhanson or Thor to his mates. Another player that needs a run. When he was getting games he didnt seem to have a position. Wingback, midfield, behind the front two. Give hime a run in a regular position.
Forward line; we still have choices, Hepton Murphy, Gabby, throw Grealish further foreard, Thor even. Hopefully Bruce continues to use the squad.
Think Elphic has given Bruce a headache with yesterdays performance as he has been a contender for the exit door especially as Bruce needs some dosh especially if we are to sign Johnstone .
,And I must admit I was one who thought Elphic should leave as I saw him as only a backup for Chester as their previous pairings seemed to give a lack of balance to central defence . But if they can continue like yesterday the future looks bright even if it does cause a problem as to where the extra dosh for new players comes from
Pleased with the result – who wouldn’t be? – but as detailed elsewhere by MOMS, It’s clear from Bruce’s post-match comments that if not for illness and injuries he would have persisted with the previous team selections that had caused a dreadful December. I have no confidence that things will improve, and while pleased we won, I think it’s just delaying his inevitable departure.
going forward we have to be better from midfield to attack,, the defence on the whole is ok,,, just cut out the silly mistakes and be better at defending crosses and set pieces,, not much we can do about the lack of pace though,,,
and it was also good to see elphick put in a decent performance,,,
for the time being we are stuck with bruces style of football,, hogan obviously is not working and its not his fault,,, you only have to watch brentford to see why he scored so many goals,,,
i just hope bruce can find a compromise on the style to give hogan the service he needs,,,
if he can bring in a player to link and supply hogan then at least we can vary the football from down the wings and hoofball to some nice attacking football with intelligent runs and with the ball played into space and on the groung,, our style of play if we can get a davies type of player who can get goals can be very effective ,,, and we are pretty good at defending deep then hitting on the break,,
but when the opposition sits you need to play football, both hogan and mccormack are players capable of clever movement and smart finishing,,, we just dont supply them
hopefully whelan will be used now as cover for jedi,,,,
bristol city provide a real test and it will be interesting to see what side is picked,,, personally i would
keep the same back 4,, same midfield and have grealish and murphy up front,
its pointless to play hogan and maby we should look to loan him back to brentford,,,