BBC Blog Network

User Profile

bilsim

Listed below are comments made by bilsim between Sunday, 5th April 2009 and Sunday, 29th November 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Spurs show top four style 2:33pm on 29 Nov 2009 "54. At 1:35pm on 29 Nov 2009, the_boys_a_genius™ wrote:

am i right in saying that after city drew at villa park you said on this blog that this proved their top 4 credentials?"

Spot on, it seems that a point at Villa Park means you're definately going to finish in the top 4, unless of course you're Villa, in which case it means, of course, you're going to finish about 7th and be glad of it. At least that's what most of the ill informed poster's here would have you believe.
Spurs show top four style 11:49am on 29 Nov 2009 As a Villa fan, I feel a little hard done by time after time reading these articles. Spurs and Man City are obviously far more fashionable than Villa, and the very fact that they've got such better squads, player for player, shows what a great job Martin O'Neill must be doing to keep us in the top six and at least looking at top 4. Any acknowledgment of Villa's success seems almost begrudging, whilst praise seems to be thrown upon Spurs in particular, even after particularly average results.
A clear example to me, is how so many journalist's have praised Spurs for dealing with the wind and rain. I'm pretty sure the weather was the same for both teams? Not only that, but when was the last time that one half of a game in late Novemeber, decided the league as so many people think yesterdays did, even if Spurs battered Villa in the second half (which I admit they did) the fact that they failed to score more than one (and a questionable one at best considering the handball) shows that they are really no better than Villa. If yesterday shows Spurs credentials as a top four side, does that mean that Villa, or even Wigan, are title contenders after beating Chelsea?
Admittedly Villa and Spurs are neck and neck in the race (I personally believe that unless Man City buy the world and his dog in January, they'll finish mid-table) but making assumptions this early on based on 45 minutes of Spurs playing well against Villa, is not really a basis for an informed argument.
As a Villa fan, I obviously want us to be as successful as possible, however, as many people have pointed out, 2005-06 we finished just above the relegation zone, at least now, the football is exciting, top 6 is pretty much a certain and top 4 is an ambition. There's still a long way to go, and I'm sure Villa and Spurs will be neck and neck until the end.
Honest Wolves pay penalty 01:03am on 25 Oct 2009 Can't help but think that this blog is making it look like Wolves were the good guys in a "Good v. Evil" match, as if Villa used underhanded tactics to scrape the draw. Neither team looked fantastic, of Wolves, you'd say they'll stay up because they've got enough about them, but they never once looked like scoring from open play (more a credit to Villa's excellent defence than anything else.)
I do think however, that games like these should be points in the bag for Villa if we have aspirations of anything more than the top 6 finish which is almost nailed on. It's as if teams have "worked us out" that by not giving Young and Milner any room on the flanks, we're fairly ordinary going forward. Petrov seems to be able to find amazing, creative passes out to the flanks, but if Carew's having a stinker (like today) we really struggle. It was Heskey, after all, that set up the winning goal.
Are sportspeople right to retaliate? 5:56pm on 08 Oct 2009 It's very rare that players are completely blameless in this. The majority of flack they receive is for actions or behaviour that fans take exception to. It's very seldom that fans jump on players for no reason at all. It's usually following an action they find unsporting or because of an apparent lack of loyalty, or occasionly, media talk.
I remember watching a Villa vs. Blues game many years ago in the League cup, when Mark Bosnich, in goal for Villa, was stood infront of the Blues end and received some of the most horrific abuse I've ever heard from a crowd, they mercilessly abused him and his family, leaving nothing to the imagination. Later in that half, Blues got a penalty and as luck would have it, he saved it. On doing this, he simply turned around towards the Blues fans with a chesire cat smile on his face, looked at them for a few seconds, before turning back around and carrying on with the game. The majority of fans carried on with the abuse, but I distinctly remember a few being very impressed with the way he handled the sitaution, no big celebration, just smug self satisfaction. If Adebayor had done something similair, maybe a few Arsenal fans would have said "fair play to him".
Man City challenge is no fake 5:52pm on 06 Oct 2009 "Am I also right in thinking there are some people out there who might relish the prospect of seeing Hughes and Manchester City fail simply because of their vast wealth?"

Simply, yes. Because football fans, surely, want to see teams develop, make smart signings and grow year by year. This is why Everton and Villa are highly regarded, success with smaller squads, young talent and good management. Any team on earth could be successful if given the money that Man City have had injected, which takes part of the "fun" out of football. If Manchester City do go on to be world beaters, what's the inspration for any mid table team, they'll be purely businesses. Any good players they bring up can be bought immediatly, no chance of silverware, no chance of success. Immediatly, the competition is exciting, but what about in several years when Man City have no competition? Tennis fans complained that Roger Federer made the sport boring during his "era of dominance", and that was with a man who was just supremely talented and better than the rest of the division, there was a feeling of "why bother, you know what's going to happen" before major tennis tournaments. That's the way that I fear football will go with City's millions, and why I dislike it intently.
Man City challenge is no fake 11:20am on 06 Oct 2009 I have to disagree with the majority of points made in the article. If Manchester City don't finish in the top four this season, it would be on the head of Mark Hughes alone, as any manager with a shred of tactical intelligence would be able to beat the world with the squad and funds that Manchester City have availible.
Last night answered very few questions as to if either team can break into the "top four" as they matched is each in most departments. Now, compare the value of the two squads, compare them man for man, compare the benches, compare the owners. It is obvious that if City had any REAL ambition of success in the near future, they should have won comfortably. Evidence of this, if any needed, is that at around about the same time in the game, both teams made substutions. Manchester City replaced the undoubtedly world class Carlos Tevez with another pure quality striker in Santa Cruz and then brought on yet another in Stephen Ireland. If fans and pundits talk about "twenty goals a season men" Man City should have 100 goals come May when you combine Adebayor, Tevez, Bellamy, Ireland and Santa Cruz. Villa, on the other hand, brought on Emile Heskey, a "striker" from whom goals are rarer than hens teeth. Man City had a bench that oozed class, whilst Villa's oozed mediocrity. Yet still, it was Villa who dominated for long periods, particularly in the first half. It was Villa who had clear cut chance after clear cut chance, only to be denied by a mixture of good defending and questionable finishing.
The season is young, but Villa have played just one game against the "big four" and taken three points. City have taken the same amount from two games and whilst I don't like to read into this statistic too much as it says very little, there's no denying that Man City AND Villa are both very similair in terms of the quality of football played as a team, last night only goes to prove that. Manchester City will be able to break the top four, but I could lead them to it, a blank cheque from the men upstair and the abilty to attract the interest of pretty much every player in the world should surely be enough to guarentee a fourth place finish.
To say, however, that "Man City looked Top 4, Villa looked top 6" is as quoted by many earlier, pure lazy journalism. Last night showed two teams to be completely equal in footballing ability, but that's where the equality ends. One club has spent over £200 million, the other who've not been short of cash, but have not had the freedom to buy whoever they please from whoever please.
Of course Man City should "break the top four", it almost goes without saying, and whilst January will strengthen the Man City roster even further, on the evidence of last night, if City are candidates, Villa are just as (if not slightly more) likely, if only for now, to gatecrash the premier league's elite.
My route into the media 10:06pm on 30 Sep 2009 This article is a God send. I'm 18 and a recent school leaver, my intense dislike of the education system has betrayed my desire to be an academic success, and for me to pursue the career I dream of, I'll need to keep looking for a more direct route. Is this an impossibility? So far it seems, yes. Answers are few and far between, despite contacting numerous sports journalists and publications, replies have been rarer than steak on a Zimbabwean dinner table. Reading this, however, gives me just a glimmer of hope that I can get into the media, despite your route being different to the one I'll have to take.
Storm clouds gather over Camp England 10:29pm on 11 Jul 2009 I was one of those who was foolish enough to beleive this would be a "close" series. 2-1 either way, I guessed. Yet England have once again proved their uncanny ability to prove to us al just how bad they can be. The runs on the board seemed enough to me, I thought that Australia may struggle against Englands attack with the swinging ball. Now, the ball hasn't swung, but when you're playing in the biggest cricket series thee is, you'd expect bowlers to not be reliant on a swinging ball, surely?
Strauss has shown his complete inability to captain the side, he's done nothing intriguing, nothing to make the opposition think, nothing other than set defensive fields and wait for the declaration to come. I honestly think that Pietersen would have done a better job, because he's not the kind of person that would sit back and let the Aussie batsmen hit us to all parts and he'd be willing to try every trick in the book to get rid of them. But that's just me. Another series I was optomistic about, and England don't fail to disappoint.
Barry gets England talking 2:45pm on 03 Jun 2009 I don't mind Barry leaving, I don't begrudge Man City fans for being excited about their future. I do, however, feel that Manchester City's first pieces of silverware will be the death of football. Even Chelsea have spent moderatley compared to Man City, I hate to sound like a little kid, but it's just not fair. Sure, it's great for Man City, but in five years time when they win every single trophy, the game will be a laughing stock. No neutral or level headed fan can say that the Arabs at Man City will do anything but damamge to the game.
The loneliness of a long-distance cricketer 10:38am on 05 Apr 2009 I expect it must be difficult for a world class player to be surrounded by such mediocrity. In my opinion, Kevin Pietersen is one of, not only the best, but the most complete batsman in the world. When I first learned about cricket, the understanding was that a batsman had to score runs. Ian Bell is one of the most technically excellent batsmen, his shots are exceptional, but he doesn't score enough runs. I've never seen a scorecard that mentions how nicely he was batting until he got out. KP scores runs, yes he gets out irresponsiby, but I'd rather him get out for 97 being ambitious than Bell or Cook or Shah getting out for 20 odd for an edge, even if they've been playing oh so nicely.
If KP scores more runs at 4 than he does at 3, then that's the important thing. Again, the ego, the drive, that makes him want to win, is good for england.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

bilsim