screwdriver

Hourihane is the new steve sidwell. results with him in the team are better than without.

I disagree. 1)McGinn - ridiculous lofted free kick back pass. Took it was too quickly, - should of gone forwards to wesley to hold up by the corner flag james milner style. b)Mings - Lazy swipe at the ball - should of sprinted after the pass and launched it out of the stadium into kings lynn town centre. 5)Heaton - should of been on his toes. - should of performed a tony schumacher style assault on the pressing player. this solution to keeping that clean sheet. These players should be made do some sort of forfeit, as it's really taken the gloss off a decent performance. we should have been more ruthless. IT's made a flawless performance into another decent performance with the customary 5mins of day dreaming. The seeds of doubt have not still been exorcised in the minds of the villa fans we still believe that that there is an off button in the minds of the villa players. when the clock is ticking down to 87mins they're thinking about the jonny machine in mechu. Smith should of came out in the press conf and talked about this incident chris wilder style totally bringing these so called "international stars" back down to earth. I hope terry, in turn pins them against the wall by their throats looks right into their eyes and says "don't you ever...."

Should have had the clean sheet. Can't understand what McGinn was trying to do with that free kick. Mings was lazy with his clearence and dropped Heaton right in the brown stuff. Roy Keane would be going mental with the switch off in the last 5 mins

like kenian davis ? he doesnt start because he doesnt score enough.

Forget about these kosavan wonderkids who have scored 5 goals in the danish league.........The next transfer windows decides our future. Proven premiership goalscoring experience is crucial. Jesus should be in wes edens office right now on knees with a bielsa style power point presentation.

dwight gayle is a total pest who seemed to do a job off the bench in the prem but could do it regular in the champ. He would have been a great signing as impact sub. He's not tall just a total pest and can score screamers (rem that one for palace at villa park in the last min?) and tap ins. He was brilliant in the play off first leg was so happy when he went off I knew I could order the ribbons for my car. Rodriguez is a bit more classy but pretty similar was on the fringes of the england team a few years ago. I'd have taken either at the start of the season. Rumours were we looked at Gayle but it never happened. maybe he didn't want to come and be on the bench? I doubt any player would come in jan without assurances of starting. no one would come to Villa to be behind the hopeless wesley. therefore I insist we make another darren bent style marquee signing. smash that transfer record! Top level goalscoring experience is crucial. No more dice roling. Danny Ings perhaps?

Would be nice if we actually saw with our own eyes evidence that lessons were being learned? but we're not. I can write the script for saturday right now. Villa come out the traps flying playing some ping and move football (tormenting the fans by giving hope of a rainbow at the end of the tunnel). Villa get a goal. 2nd half it's seige at the iranian embassy as norwich turn the screw. 1 dodgy VAR decision later, smith brings on jota. someone gives it away cheap and norwich are back in it. deflated Villa bottle it again. The messiah o'neills team had a a couple of consecutive games when they conceeded last minute goals. the next game you would see milner and co holding the ball by the corner flag on 85mins to emphasize the point the whole team made a concerted effort to shut down the game in a boring 80s liverpool backpass style. I cheered louder when I saw shaun maloneys double step overs and milners arse protecting the ball by the corner flags than for any goal. O'Neil regularly put together whole back fours in pre season who seemed to gel straight away. smith needs to make that phone call.

We have the nucleus of a good team that could go on to win trophys. If the owners bring in a few big names to supplement the big hitters we have already. It's up to them to show they're serious. we are not a millionmiles away,

there were plenty of ariel duels he should have won. Do you expect neil taylor to knock it 60 years into his stride? thats never going to happen is it.. Its wesleys job to get across and compete for the ball. He didnt do this. he was up against ben me and tarkoski...... hardly virgil van dyke level. he has no knowledge of the dark arts of english football....backing in, little nudge here, shirt pull there, the McGinn - using arse to create room, sharpening his finger nail to use as a shank on touch tight defenders. Does this guy speak english? how highly does he rate at "the verbals" whats his on pitch bantz like? zero.

In an ideal world he would have been signed and loaned out to either the champ, his old club or another physical league. To develop. Cos he is so not ready for permiership football on any level physical or mental. Obviously he's had a couple of tap ins some would point to this and say there is a morsel of raw ability in there however for 22m you expect the a machine that works. But as he's the only option we have so we are well and truely in the brown stuff. This could easily end up like Steven Givarch situation at newcastle united. Heads should roll for this disgracful debacle! Jesus should come out and accept full responsibility. He will have to go cap in hand to the american and egyption and ask for 30m in dec a striker who can win the ball in the air. Andy Carroll on a free would have been a better option. Everytime we go long we surrender posession. And sometimes you have to knock it long.

We didn't give him the ball enough when he came on. he was sensational for McGinn's goal. good old fashioned wing play nice bit of skill got to the line and the delivery was class. a great option to bring off the bench.

I think if Davis was in the team McGinn and Grealish would have more goals. It's obvious that the players don't trust morares they way they always have a dip instead of playing him in.

Same old Villa same old Smith dominate 1st half then flap it in the 2nd. At least we played in burnleys side of the pitch for the 2nd half and it wasnt backs to the wall. what the hell was wesley doing lay on the ground for 10mins in the 2nd half? I thought he'd swallowed his tounge. Mings seemed to put him in the recovery position. This was the only thjing wesley contributed today. I bet smith regrets not taking a punt on Jay Rodriguez

addendum! everyone knows what old growler dykes tactics will be today. kick the crap out of grealish.

This is must win today for SMith. The money's been spent, you can't keep cursing refs forever or you'll end up like neil warnock. wrinkly and bitter. the solution is assume you're gonna get jack all from the ref and do it all ourselves. legit., make sure the balls over the line put your foot through it! If you feel contact in the box go down and scream like youre at a micheal barrymoore pool party. be convincing. It's never been more crucial to get 3 points. We strong at Villa Park so I feel we can do the business today regardless of smiths tinkering. However for me Conner MUST start! Matt Lowton at the back? El Gazi should be creaming his trolleys right about now. The WORST FIULL back since nigel reo coker. Ashley west wood in the midfield? The worst midfielder since joey gudjonson! McGinn and grealish should be dancing in the dressing room right about now. Phil bardelsy? these guys are the biggest skidmarks in the prem. and must be beaten today

Wesley is on target for 12 goals this season if he keeps up his 1 in 3 ratio. I guess this is decent for a 22 year old striker in his first season in the prem. However for a 22m brazillian who's played in the champions league? We need more.

I think we are shopping in a different market now. Phillips has missed the boat. He wasn't that good anyway. Just a persistent fouler. He admited it to Grealish after the leeds game. I predict he will spend the rest of his career in the lower leagues then be a fixture on the after dinner speaking circuit at the gary owen stringing out the story about how he turned down a move to Villa. It's declan rice we should be looking at....especially after he tweeted his love for the real claret and blue. rice mcginn and grealish now thats what I call liquid silk.

right at this moment If Villa arn't out there compiling a short list of january options they have learned nothing and are still reading from remi garde's textbook for battling the drop.. I'd be on the plane to turkey with a suitcase of cash and a pay as you play contract for daniel sturridge. Sturridge will more than likely have accomodation family, friends etc in the area therefore more likely to hit the ground running and be lethal on the pitch. rather than a foreign gamble who will fly over and be living in the belfry out of a suitcase suffering from loneliness and homesick, probably wasting his energy with slags off adultwork. It was strikingly obvious what Villa needed last season. A solid keeper commanding centre half and grealish fit. We got all 3 and sucess followed. To hit top ten in this league is still acheivable. This season it's a 20 goal striker and a winger who can run with the ball and deliver. I would go for experienced prem players. Andros Townsend should be tapped up right now. he's not getting in the first 11 at palace. He's already a Villa legend for his urination in Lee Clarkes pond during a team meeting at the managers house.

Smith has some massive selection headaches for this weekend. he's going to need a job lot of migroleave to sort this one out. Connor must start! but where will he be shoehorned in? Davis's all round game is better than wesley....surely the stats guys will be telling him this but.... Does Smith have the stones to drop wesley?... .especially after a tap in against the arse. Will Smith show true managerial acumen by switching to a formation so all his big weapons are on the pitch......or be a fabio cappello and annoy everyone by sticking to his stubborn 4-3-3

This would be suicide. you need players who can dribble so at least one out of Gazi and Trez should be on the pitch at all moments. Jota isn't a dribbler. more of a give and go person.

soz not my job mate

surely he's earned a start for Saturday now

a)atrocious subs - subs killed any momentum Villa have against spurs, palace and arsenal b) tactically poor - always the same set up 4-3-3 doesn't know when to tweak. no retaliation when opposition flex their formation. FACT!!! we will have our botty cheeks partied dry at the ehihad! c) indecisive - woulda shoulda coulda make a sub???? got away with it against everton when 2nd half it was backs to the wall. got punished against spurs and arsenal d) lunatics running the asylum! - he said gazi and mings sorted out their little tiff themselves. he should of left them both in no doubt who was in charge by having a press confrerence like bowyer and dyer. e) questionable purchases in the transfer market - lambert-esque foreign gambles with a couple of brentford boys thrown in. Where are the marquee signings with prem experience? Who's going to score the goals to keep us up? midfielders? f) bottle job changes - always winger for winger subs. never mixes it up nothing to make an impact. can't spot a tired player. H)doesn't know how to integrate connor hourihane, the most dangerous weapon we have when it comes to set piece delivery. (either this or he doesn't think he's fast enough for prem) FACT!!! GARETH BARRY played 600 prem games despite having as much pace as a hyudai getz! in the kick and rush era of the prem. Yeah but he's a decent bloke and a Villa fan so lets go down and do it all again. was so nice against rotherham wasn't it. %&*$£"%^&*&'s!!!!!!!!!

another positive grealish was sensational for the 2nd goal. picked it up in the same area as that amazing goal against rotherham. 5 players balls deep up his trumpet. put it on a plate for the brazillian ornament.

on a positive note you can look at the first half. perfectly executed game plan. even 11v11 Villa bossed it. could of had more goals