What is left to say that hasn’t already been said?
This was yet another experience at Villa Park marred by simply awful defending, a lack of any meaningful fight and growing anger amongst the support.
To compound matters, we also began to see pathetic attempts by stewards to enforce the new house rules banning anti-Lerner signs. Some attempts were successfully rebuffed, whilst others risked provoking ugly reactionary scenes. All because of an oppressive and desperate attempt by the club to stifle public attention to their ineptitude.
Villa actually started quite brightly, showing willing runners and good closing in the early stages.
But as one caller on the radio put it as I drove home, we were never more than “shadow-boxing”. For whilst Spurs took their time to find their feet in the game, they never looked overly threatened and when their chance to take the initiative presented, they took it.
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The simple quick free kick caught Villa napping, but Kane still had lots to do. Hutton couldn’t get near him and was unable to prevent a snap shot across goal. Guzan was beaten with relative ease in an all too familiar goal to put us behind.
It was barely deserved, but we had only ourselves to blame.
With this once lapse in concentration, a hard earned draw after 45 minutes of reasonable work was lost.
The other plainly obvious fact is that when we concede a goal, we concede the match. And so it was the case again.
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With the game having barely restarted, Alli broke with a simple move and squared a cross under no pressure; Kane grabbed an all too easy second.
No challenges, last ditch tackles. There was not even an on the pitch blame game from our players. They’ve long since given up; caring, trying or even apportioning blame.
The remainder of the game was a training exercise for Spurs. Villa played with no visible motivation on the pitch or off it. Indeed, Garde sat arms crossed for virtually the entire 2nd half. It was a sorry, embarrassingly limp 40 minutes thereafter.
Tottenham probably still can’t believe their good fortune at quite how poor and disinterested we were. So keen to gift the victory that the two glaring misses we fashioned will stand only to illustrate how impotent we are.
Gestede hammered against the crossbar when seemingly easier to score from virtually underneath it – Lescott – who looked all of his 33+ years I thought – somehow hit the post in the dying moments. Imagine if we had actually tried to get something from the game?
Another defeat and one step closer towards a relegation that is surely now only a matter of weeks away.
With what is left of this sorry season we must continue to be dissenting supporters, reminding the hierarchy just how culpable they are. Indeed, given the discontent in the ground, the baffling cancellation of the ‘Out The Door On ‘74′ protests seemed all the more ridiculous.
The signs, stickers and bedsheets with messages must multiply. For every banner they take down and wrestle from a supporter of our great club, two should appear.
And now for the disruption. We should be disruptive. Be it tennis balls, beach balls, drones, naked pitch incursions with Randy’s face tattooed on one’s testicles; it’s all now fair game I’d say.
For too long we have tolerated being treated with contempt by a club that means more to us than most things. It’s time we showed just how much it means.
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