BRUCE LETS RIP
Hull boss tears into ‘lifeless’ players after Villa romp to victory
Steve BRUCe tore into his ‘ lifeless’ players after watching his side get picked apart by an Aston villa team now adding attacking verve to defensive resilience.
the Hull manager was infuriated by what he called the worst performance he has overseen and said it was a wake-up call to a squad perhaps still basking in praise earned last campaign.
Do not be misled by the slender margin of victory. Paul Lambert’s side deserved all three points from their first-half show alone, in which Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andi Weimann scored the decisive goals. those were the second and third shots on target for villa this season, following a 1-0 win at Stoke and goalless draw with Newcastle, moving the team into the Champions League places. Not even Lambert expects villa to remain there, but promising signs abound.
the summer’s transfer recruitment, with the potential for tom Cleverley to join today, and owner Randy Lerner’s increased impetus into affairs despite putting the club up for sale, presents the feeling this is a new dawn.
It certainly seems that way for Lambert, who was serenaded by the home crowd and happily obliged calls for a wave. this fixture in May was the one that saw villa win to confirm their safety amid much uncertainty, coming weeks after Lambert was abused by his own fans during a loss at Crystal Palace.
the attendance at villa Park was only 28,336, the lowest for some time, but in the first 45 minutes they were treated to an exhibition of positive football built on pace, high pressing and precise passing. Fabian Delph showed why he has been called up to the england squad by Roy Hodgson.
Hull, by contrast, were ineffective and sloppy. Captain Curtis Davies was hooked at half-time. they did rouse themselves late on and with 16 minutes to go Nikica Jelavic claimed his second goal in as many games. But Bruce was still livid post- match after delivering a half-time team talk he described as ‘unrepeatable’.
‘that was arguably the worst I’ve seen us perform in a first half in my two years here,’ he said. ‘I won’t accept it, a performance where we were so lifeless it was incredible.
‘We didn’t get above a jog, so how do you expect to win a Premier League game? We have got 12 going away on international duty. Mind you, keep playing like that and they won’t be internationals.
‘Davies was not injured. Whether he’s the captain or not, he didn’t perform to the level I expect of him, he was a shadow of himself.’
Bruce was happy to announce the club-record £10million signing of Uruguay international striker Abel Hernandez was complete.
Lambert, meanwhile, heaped praise
GETTY IMAGES on his players. ‘ First half we were outstanding,’ he said. ‘I think Gabby was unplayable. His running power and speed was excellent. I thought the movement through midfield was terrific. It has been a great start and hopefully we can keep it going.’
Both villa goals followed the same pattern, originating from Hull’s defence conceding possession and ending with quick passing moves neatly finished. For the first in the 14th minute, Andrew Robertson’s ball forward was poached by Philippe Senderos, who gave possession to Charles N’Zogbia. He found Delph, who found Weimann and his cute pass led to Agbonlahor turning and shooting in one swift movement.
For the second, nine minutes before the interval, it was Michael Dawson, on his Hull debut after a £6m move from tottenham, with an errant pass. Delph intercepted and gave it to Agbonlahor, who found Kieran Richardson advancing fast and his cut-back was controlled and finished calmly by Weimann.
the second half was meandering along with villa in control until 16 minutes from time when a Hull goal from nowhere — Jelavic nodding in Robbie Brady’s free-kick via a heavy deflection off Aly Cissokho — sparked the contest into life. It was the first time Lambert’s defence had been breached in 254 minutes.
villa ended the match with 10 men as captain Ron vlaar limped off with a calf injury and all Lambert’s substitutes used, but they held firm.