A miserable week for all those in claret and blue continued, as a penalty that never was, along with countless dodgy decisions, saw Villa plummet back into the danger zone.
Benteke began brightly and had a shot blocked by Hoovield before inching the ball over the bar from the edge of the box. Villa were then almost caught on the counter when Lambert found Rodriguez with acres of space. Rodriguez slid the ball across Guzan and it was left to Clark to clear it.
A header from Puncheon allowed Rodriguez another shot on goal but he headed just wide of the far post.
Guzan was soon seen scrambling after a powerful low shot from Shaw but, thankfully, it too was wide.
Puncheon then shot over the bar before Villa Park erupted in outrage when Mark Halsey awarded a penalty to the visitors after Rodriguez went to ground just inside the box, even though Stevens had made no contact with him. The protests fell on deaf ears and Rickie Lambert found the back of the net from the spot, having sent Guzan the wrong way.
Although Villa were very poor, it was a harsh decision and they remained vulnerable on the counter-attack for the remainder of the first half.
Holman was replaced by Bannan for the start of the second half and Villa began to improve. Weimann forced Boruc to parry his left-footed shot and Benteke shot over the bar.
The Saints remained dangerous and Clark made another great tackle to stop the advancing Rodriguez.
Puncheon’s drive then hit the woodwork.
Villa rallied in the final ten minutes but, as on Tuesday, the ball refused to find the net. Benteke’s header was kept out by Boruc and a powerful header from Baker thudded off the woodwork just as Villa looked set to level. Boruc then saved at Agbonlahor’s feet and Benteke shot wide – but it was all in vain and all three points went to Southampton, adding to Villa’s worries.
22 Comments
Don’t know where we go from here, there is no chance we are good enough to stay up!! My patience is running out with lambert and I think randy needs to act now!! Money needs to be spent to give us any chance but I fear it may be to late, get ready for the championship lads, randy needs to think long and hard about what he wants to do with our club sell or invest randy, you will ruin our Great club and it will be a long road back, sad day for all villa fans, gutted!!
well i thought we performed better today than at Bradford,but to be fair we were playing 12 men what a t**t Halsey is clearly he is biased against villa,remember the arsenal free kick a few years ago that thierry Henry scored when sorensen was in goal,Henry told Halsey he wanted to take it quick Halsey agreed and Henry just rolled it into the net past sorensen as he was setting the wall up, so t**t Halsey has some history of bias against villa, other than mark im a wanker Halsey the boys just aint good enough,if you cant beat Southampton at home what chance have you of beating the big teams that are coming up,so sorry to say we are doomed,i think even though the baggies got done today they will turn us over next week,and as for Bradford forget it,whats the point of winning the capital one cup or getting to wembley if you get relegated,a bit like the wankers in small heath.
PL might be out of his depth but how do you get a manager in that quick to buy players before the window shuts ? for me the only solution is RL needs to stick with PL and totally support him with finance to bring some new blood in to kick start our season and get some points on the board and quick,forget cups absolutely vital now is survival,to be fair this has been coming for a couple of years so maybe it might be time to go down re group and hopefully come back (easier said than done)
Feel much the same Big Ron. Can’t understand why Lerner isn’t buying top drawer players left, right & centre as he must know he’ll lose £60 mil from TV money alone if we drop down & it’s so obvious we need players in & making an impact NOW.
Shocking 1st half from the lads. Only thing more shocking was the ref & the linos were no better. Improved 2nd half but fluffed chances & had no luck even with Southampton’s defence wide open. Boruc isn’;t their preferred keeper & should have been beaten.
We’re in for a rough end to the season – QPR drew, Reading won, Saints putting up a comeback & Sunderland climbing back up the table.
We need to hear from the board what there intentions are!! Randy is never in the country, the silence is deafening!! Next home game we need to make our thoughts known! Sell now randy!! Lerner out!!
well randy what do you wanna do with our club ? decision time is here put little or nothing in and watch to club go through the trap door or invest some serious money and pray/hope for survival your call, cus at the moment our club is only going one way, even clubs around/below us are making progress,it is embarrassing to watch our once great club put to the sword by no marks like Bradford,it just shows how far we have fell,so for me you can do 2 things either inject some serious finance or if you aint got the balls for it sell the club and go sooner rather than later and let someone come in who will invest in our great club.
Bent is the only man that can keep us up. Lambert needs to get 2 midfielders and start playing bent & Ireland .
big Ron you are dead right its about time Faulkner Lerner and co listened to the fans opinions.remember the David o dreary villa fans are fickle saga, and the banner in the holte “we are not fickle we just don’t like you!!” it worked it was on the telly in the papers etc and oleary had gone soon after.
FAN POWER
Hang on villans, there is still hope. Although I agree that Lerner needs to make a move NOW. This is pitiful. Didn’t get to see the match. I had to use my cellphone to keep me abreast . ( I’m here in California) I’m not gonna give up on my Villans. We can make it – but come on randy, let’s do SOMETHING.
Well, after weekend after weekend of pure disappointment, over three seasons, I have simply had enough of this circus. Invest and take this club seriously or sell to someone with ambition RL. RL bought the club as a toy or project, is the club in his heart, I don’t think so… Us fans are sick and tired of this crap we see most weeks. I don’t blame PL and I think the team try their best on most occasions. But we need to strengthen now, or we are doomed to the lower league.. I really think that we will be unable to gain points.
its about time we get some answers from lerner and fuckner about where they re taking our club.theres no point getting rid of lambert because no one wants the job so i wish they would give him some money and direction how to spend it.i thought we have one of the best scouts in europe.where is he.its obvious to every fan we need a DM and a CB with experience and one or two wingers .we could build and save or season from there,otherwise i fear the curtain call is coming for our club in the PL.COME ON LERNER AND STUMP UP PLEASE.COME ON THE VILLA.
I fully agree with most people about lerner i personally think he came in with a plan to get villa in the champions league he threw £100 million at it and failed but never had a plan b so now can’t be bothered with it how can you buy players from league 2 and make them your first choice players if you want to stay in thr premier league you have to pay premier league wages when i think of the quality we’ve sold and not replaced its heart breaking i for one won’t be renewing my season ticket after 14 years of skinning myself out unless major invest is made even if we stay if i want to to watch the kids i’ll watch the reserves for a fiver
Next home game all villa fans who love our great club should set up a protest outside and inside the ground, I and all the villa fans I know have had enough, Lerner you need to listen because we love our club and you will be long gone after we are still here!! The time has come to show our strength, villa till I die!!
i totally agree big ron.im from ireland and i get over four or five times a year.it costs me about 4k a year for these matches with all the expences.if i was living in or around birmingham id be down there all my spare time protesting for answers.its not good enough all this silence .we just want to know whats happening.
The club’s hierarchy promised a complete sea change after the dismissal of Alex Mcleish. Paul Faulkner clearly stipulated that lessons had been learnt following last season’s dismal showing and that the squad for this season would be good enough to allow Villa to compete for a top half finish.
In view of Villa’s current predicament it’s clear that no lessons have been learnt and that Paul Faulkner’s integrity has to be questioned. If he has any integrity (which is very doubtful) and to avoid accusations of, at best incompetence and at worst lying, he must face the Villa paying fans with an explanation.
What our great club needs right now is leadership in all areas on and off the pitch. Yes we got beat today by cheating. But yet again we failed to take our chances and our defence should hang their heads in shame. Not taking the chances in my opinion is a result of lack of confidence. It takes a leader to change and influence and instill confidence. It takes leadership to keep our defence in check. It takes leadership to bring in experience. It takes leadership to change the course we are on. It takes guts and courage. With the risk of leaving the prem, and the financial implications that brings. It is worth investing on experienced talent, even if their wages are 100k pw. The return is far higher than the cost!! It seems more and more clear that our leadership in RL has left the building. All he seems to want to give us now is neglect and destroy our club, which is rich in heritage and tradition. His silence tells it all. A sad sad day for the villa. VTID
even though yesterdays penalty was a dive mickey mouse defending put us in that position for the idiot to give that decision.
i agree with most comments RL appears to have got a taxi and fled from villa park.
even though it is obvious this great job is too much for PL i see no point in ditching him now buy experienced players for midield and defence and get a wide player we are far too narrow going forward.
if this great club is relegated looking at the last 3 years of stagnation i can see a leeds scenario on the cards.
I agree with most comments. In a way i think PL should have lost his job a week or so ago but would it help. Probably not.
He needs some money quickly and bring back some senior players quickly.
Or maybe just buy a few balls that won’t refuse to find the net on match day!!
I cannot understand or start to comprehend what is going on in our board room. If we go down we would lose massive revenue so we can’t be intentionally doing that although some would argue we are.
Nice write up Anniemc
Still the silence from our board, do they care!! We need some answers and if there is money to spend!! Many years I have followed the villa and never felt like this!! We love this great club come on villa!!
I have heard PL say that there is no money in the pot to buy new players, and that we have to rely on bargains. What is this? Is there no hope for our great club?!?! I’m getting worried villans. Getting VERY worried. What r we gonna do when we have to face the the big boys again? This Lerner cat has got to go. UTV from riverside , California. Signing off- a yank villan….
well were nearly half way through January and no transfers not even a sniff of anybody coming in PL says don’t panic every game is big yeah well some games are bigger than others,we will get 3 points from man utd no problem,PL YOU ARE TALKING OUT OF YOUR ARSE if we cant beat Southampton and wigan what chance have we of beating the top six teams.
randy you can see the mess the club is in you need to react and react NOW before its too late,either support the manager so we can keep our premier league status or if you have no interest do us all a favour sell up and f*** off and let somebody in who would invest in our great club
oh and by the way take that waster Faulkner with you he is just bleeding the club dry and doing nothing to earn his big fat salary.
you would have thought he would be telling the fans what the plans are for the club and generally communicating with the faithful who buy tickets.
we need to get rid of these clowns ASAP
After 50 faithful years of supporting my club, after travelling thousands of miles loyally wearing the scarf, after spending literally thousands just to be there, NO MORE. Randy aint getting one penny cent more from my pocket. The line in the sand has to be drawn. Enough is enough.
The current set up is a TOTAL DISCRACE to the name of ASTON VILLA FOOTBALL CLUB.
Big Ron is 110% correct. Lerner has to go. And go now.
PL has to accept some blame for the Soton result. Yes the ref made a real cock up,but did we see Rodriguez (if he did not dive) inform the ref he simply lost his footing – NO – so he`s either a diver or a bad sportsman (A cheat).Retrospective carding should happen but will it – probably not.That is the state of todays game. Villa have been treated badly by referees for years – it wont change so we have to live with it, or at the very least get some experience in the ranks that has the know how of turning referee bias on its head.
So its a final good bye to all you loyal Villa fans – I may return to the ranks once the stars and stripes have left the building, and I do so with my pride in place.
Larry is so right. A massive strike by fans might just make some impact on all concerned , from the boardroom to the dressing room. They all take the fans for mugs, charging us big money to watch mediocrity. An empty stadium might just get them thinking about what really matters to them…MONEY. After years of supporting the Villa I now find it gut wrenchingly stressful, and at my age I should know better, so I for one am on strikefor the rest of this season at least. It’s not disloyalty, just self preservation.