Well you can add Villa to Everton and Wolves to the list of teams who , if they were playing in my garden I would draw the curtains rather than watch. This was a real game of two halves and both were terrible in different ways. Villa showed in the first minute what their game plan was, waste time, take minutes out of the match, dive, whinge , play act and get at the ref. First free kick of the game and one of theirs kicks the ball from the half way line to behind our goal after the whistle has blown, the inept ref has a quiet word, no card. Later Pantomime villain ( pun intended) Mings, picks the ball up to take a free kick then leaves it , then goes back to it , all just time wasting and killing the game. Add the fact that they rolled around after every tackle and they were constantly at the ref and you get the general impression that they were not here to play football. We did nothing to help ourselves in the main because we got involved in all the petty squabbles and mini vendettas, rather than playing football When we did play, Sinisterra looked a real handful and Roca pulled the strings. Having said that a thunderbolt by the otherwise poor Rodrigo that flew just wide and a cross into the 6 yd box that he just failed to get on the end of was all we had to show for a turgid first half. Villa had 2 or 3 breakaways saved / smothered by Mes. On the concourse at half time I heard one lad say " that's the worst game I have ever seen" . I am sure I have seen worse but it was dire. Second half and all to play for till stupidity by Sini cost us the chance of 3 points. Having seen it on TV it was a ridiculous thing to do and many refs would give a yellow, though more would have given a warning rather than a second yellow however ' wrong' that may be. So down to 10 and suddenly Villa woke up and wanted to take things quickly and get on with the game. As it wore on it was almost the old kids game, attack v defence, and thankfully with some resolute defending, profligate finishing, good saves and the help of the woodwork, we held on and almost nicked a goal at the death when Bamford, looking good when he came on, nearly laid on a finish for Klich. It was relief and some cheers at the end though mainly drowned out by boos and insults at the ref. An awful game A special word for the incompetent referee. All second half my mate said " this must be one of those new refs who haven't a clue " I agreed saying I had heard that lots of refs retired at the end of last season and the Prem had new , even less able referees. Imagine my surprise then to see it was not some unknown newbie making his debut and alternating between having no clue / no control and making himself the centre of attention, but in fact Stuart Attwell a seasoned ref at this level - a dreadful performance from start to finish So after waiting a month to get back to watching us we had to put up with that dross. As someone, a bit unfairly, said on the bus " that was shocking and nothing like the brilliant Bielsaball " . I say a bit unfair because the lack of spectacle and entertainment in this game was not really our fault, but it was a hard watch. Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat!
