Dave Woodhall reflects on Villa’s defeat at Nottingham Forest.
More years ago than I care to remember, Villa lost to Forest and the following week a report in the late-lamented Villa Times was headlined, “Forest have all the luck that’s going.” Back then this was bordering on sensationalism from a club publication but from what I remember of the game it was absolutely right.
The headline writer would have found a similarity with Saturday’s game. Villa might not have deserved the win, but the home side definitely rode their luck, They’re on the sort of roll that recalls Leicester 2016, and although there are too many good sides now preventing the planets from combining to bring about a similar event, Forest are certainly getting the bounce of the ball.
Their luck on Saturday started when Tyrone Mings was a late withdrawal due to illness. Forest are the sort of ‘direct’ ‘robust’ side we’ve always struggled against. Wimbledon, Martin O’Neill’s Leicester, Wolves in recent years, they invariably undo us. Not only would we miss Mings’ leadership, but his aerial power would have been invaluable. Give Tyrone all the time in the world and that’s when mistakes happen; ninety minutes of backs to the wall defending and he’s as good as it gets.
Anyway, Villa did okay in the first half, with neither side having many chances. Then on 63 minutes a John McGinn cross was met by the irrepressible forehead of Jhon Duran. One-nil and that should have been enough.
However, our substitutes were nowhere near as effective as Forest’s and they began to get on top. The first warning sign cane when Emiliano Martinez had to make another of his showreel saves, and that was followed by a Forest goal ruled out for offside by VAR.
Warnings are supposed to be heeded, but no. With three minutes to go Forest equalised, three minutes into stoppage time they got a winner. By then Villa should have had a penalty and there was a definite foul in the build-up to the second but the ref was barely a white line away from David Coote-levels of incompetence. After 86 minutes Villa were fourth; we could end the week eighth. That’s how tight the table is and how disappointing this result was.
Despite Matty Cash’s performance in Leipzig he is, at best, a stopgap wide man and certainly no long-term solution. With the other candidates either injury-prone, out of form or not getting a look-in, if there is money available next month a right winger has to be the priority.
On that note, Forest broke all sorts of spending rules last season and were deducted four points, which in the end was meaningless because they finished six above the club immediately below them and seven behind the club above. The players they bought illegally are still there and what a difference they’ve made.
The whole of football knows that Villa and Newcastle are the two clubs most affected by the regulations; just for once it would be good to see us benefiting from a rule change. Either that or we stop being so nice. Spend what we want, on who we want, then when the charges come in, throw legal teams at them until the Premier League back down. Whether it be always expecting the good time to end soon, or too often playing by the rules, Villa’s biggest problem is that we’re always Aston Villa.