mole86

Think he’s been pretty good first half, should have scored but that aside he’s worked hard and been involved in a lot of the build up

He really didn’t hit the ground running either, his first season was very inconsistent. As to be expected I guess

Yeah I loved it, really well done

Thought he had a good first half last night and was a big reason behind our tempo and control of the game. That being said, he messed up the clearest chance to create a goalscoring opportunity when he overhit a pass to Cash, lot of effort from him but it's still just not quite where we want him to be. Second half he was struggling after kicking Idah's studs, but still put in a shift defensively and tracked back really well. Really hope it all clicks for him soon.

He didn't set up Barry's goal

Think Gerrard’s system would really suit him, the onus isn’t on our wide players to track the full back as much as it was under Smith

Not only did 3-5-2 expose us in midfield, it also served to break up the most solid back four we've had in years. Really impressed with our shape when we lost the ball on Saturday, McGinn did so much work getting back in position to help Cash with Zaha and Mitchell.

Good positioning and reflexes but realistically the only way that goes in is if he ducked under it. Lamptey save was a good one

Therein lies the underlying narrative of every Manager thread (McLeish and Garde excepted) on here since O'Neill walked out

No we didn’t

The relevance of the post I quoted was the strange lack of acknowledgment of the different stages of the respective matches in question. Just seems an unusual caveat for a Villa fan to be making when the context is clearly important to the discussion, everyone is aware that the Sheffield United goal crossed the line.

The clear distinction between the two being that one was the last kick of the game and directly cost us a point, the other happened in the first half and no one can confidently state the impact of it on the end result. It’s not a given we would have lost 1-0 had it correctly been awarded. Weird to have to point that out to be honest

Which game recently did he leave it until the 80th minute to change things?

Each to their own but this is probably one of the weirdest opinions I’ve ever read on here, absolutely mental.

Long shot but does anyone have any interest in two tickets to see White Lies tonight at Camden Powerhaus (formerly Dingwalls)? Having to self isolate due to my Son having a temperature, face value £40 a ticket

Seen a lot of mention of the 8-0 at Chelsea. The 7-1 against them in the O’Neill years was more demoralising for me as it just confirmed how far away we were from really challenging.

We had the youngest squad in the league last year and have already released the three oldest/most experienced players in the last few weeks. Getting someone into the dressing room with Young’s knowledge and experience can only be a benefit, I bet Cash, Targett, El Ghazi etc are all looking forward to working with him and Grealish must have idolised him as a kid. I know everyone got very upset with him winning a penalty against us but as far as I remember he’s always held a real affinity for Villa since he left. Remember him being present at Villa Park a few times to watch us.

The 14 clean sheets would suggest the defence has improved

Completely agree, gives us the option of moving Jack inside as well. Would much rather pay a bit over the odds for McNeil than buy Barkley

I don’t think lack of effort is ever something that he could be accused of. Lack of pace, strength or even ability at times would be fair but he always gave his all for us

We are also the youngest team in the league, inconsistency of results and/or performance can’t be a surprise

Mings and Watkins have both been abysmal tonight

Pope’s been the biggest disappointment for me the last few weeks, he’s obviously not coming in at ideal times of the innings but he has been all over the place

I just think reactions like this completely ignore how rare it is for teams to win away from home in test cricket, particularly in ‘alien’ conditions. Not saying we’ve not been humiliated but it’s literally been going on for decades so it can’t be a surprise. Root had won 6 tests away in a row after the 1st test, India were never going to produce a pitch like that after we won that game convincingly. It really isn’t back to the drawing board with regards the home tests, Woakes will play and be great, same for Broad and Anderson. Leach has had a really good winter, Bess is the one who is clearly out of his depth. His five for in Sri Lanka was one of the worst/luckiest you’ll ever see.

Absolutely, his ability against spin is a massive concern. I just don’t think that really has any bearing when considering the side for the home tests, or Australia. I do worry about Burns against the short ball in the winter.