Aston Villa Banter 4

12 Apr 2026 20:42:51
If Aston Villa win two of their remaining six Premier League games, they will hit 61 points - a total Chelsea cannot reach if they lose two more matches this season. We are nearly back in the promised land.

12 Apr 2026 21:38:18
Agree Daz, Chelsea are woeful.

12 Apr 2026 17:05:24
How many more times is Martinez going to pull out during warm up, there is something not right with him, he is letting the fans and his team mates down far too often, between Rogers and Emi we have two unreliable characters.

12 Apr 2026 20:17:26
Better he pull up before the match than try to play with a knock and, as a consequence, concede a goal. If I was a gambling man, I suspect he came back from his previous knocks too quickly, and the late withdrawals are a result of that. Re Rogers, he can't be at the top of his game week in, week out. He has 13 goal contributions this season; I think only Fernandes and Bowen have more from a midfield position. We are a better side when we have our best midfield available, and Rogers is definitely part of that.

Ideally, we would have beaten Forest, but if you can't win, the key thing, given our position, is not to lose. And, given the Chelsea result, we extend our lead over them to 7 points. That should, and I stress should, be enough to secure 5th, but 9 points out of our last 6 games would seal it, unless Chelsea win every match to the end of the season, and they won't do that.

12 Apr 2026 16:44:42
Should of won that game easy, but it could be a good point. 9 more points should be enough.

12 Apr 2026 16:28:12
A draw at Forest isn’t the worst result but we had 2 or 3 great chances to win that in the 2nd half. Watkins missed 2 gilt edged chances and Rogers, well, what can you say? 8 Yards out and blazing it over the bar by good few feet.
Has Rogers' head been turned by all the England World Cup talk and the potential ‘big’ summer move? Emery obviously rates him and favours him over anyone else but he needs to get back to basics and be part of the team and not think he is ‘the team’.


Tielemans and McGinn were solid today.

12 Apr 2026 16:26:04
Chance after chance wasted, should have won easily. Biggest problem, being too casual and lazy lazy passing. Rogers gets picked out, but sadly he’s not the only one, even Tielemans was guilty of it today. At least we didn’t lose, but we could have done with the three points.
Over to City now, hope they can beat Chelsea UTV.

12 Apr 2026 14:40:45
Rogers twice gave the ball away and that's what happens.
Up against it now after looking comfortable since our goal.

12 Apr 2026 15:59:29
Rogers shocking today, falling over and giving the ball away constantly. Watkins as well had 2 great chances with only the keeper to beat. Second half was pants, and Emery left it too long before making a few changes.

Really missed Sancho today. 1 great save from Bizot, but very poor getting beat at your near post for the goal, he wasn't even close to getting to it. At least we didn't lose, I guess. Any word on Martinez?

12 Apr 2026 16:30:33
Certainly not one of his best games. He looks affected by all the media stuff around a possible summer move.
Who else would we play instead of him, because he can be devastating, but we can't risk him giving the ball away 20 yards from our own goal.
He looks a little bit leggy to be honest.

12 Apr 2026 14:38:33
How many times has Rogers lost the ball?

12 Apr 2026 15:09:30
Made exactly the same point. Led to their goal.

12 Apr 2026 16:01:44
Frustrating player. Scott believes his own hype.

12 Apr 2026 16:43:07
Yep I think his head has been turned, he will be gone in the summer, no1 is bigger than this great club. Rodgers needs to think where he was b4 we signed him, he was going nowhere. As good as he is, he can be replaced, get over 100 mil, sell, we dont want players with bad attitudes.

12 Apr 2026 21:16:25
And, how have you arrived at the conclusion he has a bad attitude? I have seen nothing to suggest that he has, in fact, quite the contrary.

13 Apr 2026 00:00:08
I don't often agree with Jonny, but Roger's attitude is not one I'm fond of. He's petulant, he's moody, and he's mouthing off at the ref constantly when he's not getting his own way. For all his hype, he has plenty of negatives. Not one foul did he draw today, as I had him in my bet builder to be fouled one or more times. They didn't need to foul him, he was consistently giving the ball away.

Credit to him for his one bit of good play which got us a goal, but if he thinks he's worth 100 million he should be doing more against a relegation team. He does seem to be heavily bandaged on one of his hands, maybe that's affecting him a bit, but he's a long way off the player we have seen him be.

13 Apr 2026 09:44:11
So was it one of his best games? No, it wasn't. And did he give the ball away a few times? Yes, he did, but on the positive side, he gets into positions to effect the game. As you say, it was his ball across that was diverted into the Forest net. Shortly after, he played a through ball which put Watkins clean through and should have finished. He also hit the woodwork and skied an opportunity from about 10 yards.

Admittedly, he should have scored both, but he is getting into the positions to effect the game. We have plenty of players who move the ball from side to side, we don't have too many who can run at pace at defenders, create space for others around him and, in addition, score/assist 13 goal contributions from midfield. Not too shabby in my view. You can't be excellent every week.

12 Apr 2026 14:18:37
15 minutes in and yet again looking a little rusty in possession. Coughing up the ball when we look threatening.

11 Apr 2026 14:42:04
The quadruple slowly melting away, brilliant by Bournemouth. Seen it all now, obviously Arsenal fans thinking here we go again, but to boo the players off after the season they have had. A post I did some time ago, sums it up, winning breeds entitlement, and that can lead to upset.

We all get wrapped up in winning runs, but how can Arsenal fans actually boo them off. Near enough every other sides' fans in the Premier would sell their Mother, Dog and the kids, for a season like they have had, that entitlement UTV.

11 Apr 2026 17:57:54
If we win tomorrow and Chelsea lose, it would take an almighty capitulation to lose the Champions League spot. I know everyone wants a trophy, but I'd rather finish in the top 5 and see them miss out altogether on the Champions League. Couldn't see Roger's going there if they don't get Champions League.

11 Apr 2026 23:57:05
Whack, I would take two quality, 50mill signings over Rogers all day long.

12 Apr 2026 02:01:48
110mil to 120 mil id sell Jonathan Rowe, Groupi, Wilson, and Sensi.
And a dm we will be even stronger nxt season.

11 Apr 2026 12:33:04
You have to give it Arteta, comes out with some crackers, latest one, it’s a miracle really how some of his players have recovered from injury. HaHa that’s a good one. UTV

11 Apr 2026 17:55:01
Gyokeres "the pitch was too dry" haha.
The ball was too round aswel, I bet. 😛

10 Apr 2026 09:31:45
Watched the highlights again this morning and feel we really did get away with one last night. Certainly 1st half.
Reckon Cash must have had nightmares last night about Rowe.
I don’t think he’ll have a more difficult game of football for the rest of his career (unless it’s at VP next Thursday… 🫣).
Watkins most effective game since Chelsea away in December.
I’ve been critical of him this season but fair play he was brilliant last night.


Rogers was average. McGinn wasn’t in the game for 1st 30-40 minutes. Stuck out so wide on the right only the assistant ref was wider….

Jonathan Rowe looks an absolute handful. I hope Emery has a plan for him in the home leg.
Deservedly got his goal (🤬 Bailey !!!).

On to Forest away. Will be tough but then every game ‘til the end of the season will be.
UTV !!

10 Apr 2026 15:24:24
Poor old Cashy, his head must be still spinning after being turned inside out and torn apart by Rowe. Hopefully, that was just a great game for him and he drops off a bit for the 2nd leg.

Ollie was great and almost back to his best. The runs he made and the strength he showed were fantastic. Hope he goes on a nice little run now it's coming to the end of the season.

10 Apr 2026 02:55:56
1-3 away win in the first leg of a third successive European quarter final. Just let that sink in.
I know it's easy to get frustrated with short term form, get lost and angry in the pursuit of an unachievable perfection or even down play it from an egotistical (we were European champions in the 80's) perspective, but in the context of a whole generation of fans, this is awesome.

Embrace it. It's much easier to drop levels for a long time than it is to raise them.

10 Apr 2026 07:39:04
{Ed's Note - Zeddicus has posted a new article entitled, From Rush to Slot: A Supporter’s Breaking Point