Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle - the fans' verdict

BBC News

10 hours ago

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Newcastle.Here are some of your comments:Aston Villa fansPhil: Disappointed with Villa. They were sluggish in midfield, poor passing and not sure Watkins' heart is in it. The most obvious thing that summed up Saturday's game was the free-kick Tielemans put in - a superb cross and not one player went for the ball and then it went out for throw in to Newcastle.Martyn: Lousy game and nothing positive to say other than a point was a bonus. Too many players didn't turn up and Konsa's schoolboy challenge almost cost us the match. Emery knows the size of the task and I think we all have to be realistic about the season ahead.Robin: Very disappointing. Seemed to have learned nothing during their preparation. Passing poor. I fear that they will struggle this season. Newcastle were the better team and should have won.Leigh: A rusty performance and pedestrian transition with what seemed a lack of creativity and never seemed to be a threat. Nothing down the left side with Rogers clearly unhappy and lacking any quality. Cash and McGinn played well. Bizot was strong and decisive. A worrying start and clearly Villa are lacking a creative striker as Watkins seemed to lack vision, creating very little, but he wasn't serviced by the likes of Tielemans. I also felt a lack of atmosphere for the opening home match. On the flip side, Newcastle were equally as poor. Come on, Villa - we know you are better than this.Roger: Flat, flat, flat - disappointing with too many players off the pace. Rogers was non-existent and there was too much gifting of possession with stray passes. Where is the creativity going to come from?Martin: A very poor and disappointing performance. We are desperate for new full-backs. The midfield has got old, boring and has no creativity. This season will be a struggle without new faces.Newcastle fansBrian: The failure in the transfer market to recruit quality players is evident, it is not only the Isak situation that results in no goals for the Toon. The fault lies with the club management in all aspects and it needs to be corrected so we can have a team that can beat a 10-man opposition. The team still have a few good players but the under-performers should be moved on and quality brought in, and we need better management to do that.Paul: Very disappointed in Elanga. We should have signed Mohammed Kudus or Antoine Semenyo instead. Season of struggle if we don't get strikers in as we are toothless without Isak.Jason: Newcastle just showed that they would have been better prepared if they had not wasted their time, let Isak leave and brought in a replacement in time for this game. The result would have been better.Richard: I'd have taken a point before the game but, by the end of it, I was disappointed we didn't get all three. I think we looked rusty but then so did Villa and I don't think the elephant in the room/Swede on the pitch would have necessarily meant we would have won. Yes, we created chances but I didn't come away with the impression that Isak would have been the difference here. If we can keep the intensity of the first 35 minutes up for the whole game then I think we can still give anyone a game. That said, a new striker or two would be very nice.John: I thought Newcastle were excellent. Villa is never an easy gig for us, and with all the negative noise around the club at the moment, the performance was all the more impressive. We could have had two or three goals in the first half but, overall, I'm happy with a point. Credit to Eddie and the lads.Bryan: Reasonable all-round performance but, as expected, we are definitely missing a striker. Don't understand why we bring on the only recognised striker with only minutes to play. Gordon will never be a striker. Another excellent display from Dan Burn.