WakefieldVillan

Will be playing in a higher league next season regardless of whether Brentford gain promotion. Don't get me wrong Hull have been sh*te but he has looked class and one of those players that you can just tell has all the attributes to play at the top level. Much better option than Bowen IMO.

I think I fancied us more before our win on Tuesday than I do right now. Tomorrow is all about having the right mindset straight from kick-off, that's key for me, they flew out of the traps at VP and we gifted them a 2 goal lead which we obviously can't afford to do again. It's a big positive however that Mings will be going back to his old club and will be desperate to show them what they have missed out on. If we defend well then no doubt we have players that can hurt them so here's hoping for a vital 3 points. Same team that started against Leicester except Reina in for Nyland (as well as he did) and I'd start Davis for Samatta for his ability to hold the ball up and bring others in to play, though to be honest I'd be happy with either, it's just nice to have an actual forward on the team sheet! UTV

May as well close the thread then! Smith has said we are still looking at bringing a player (or two) in, so we must have some funds. I don't actually think replacing Jota with Lolley would cost a ridiculous amount and would improve our playing squad. Anyway by no means would he be my first choice and it's obviously not as easy as just swapping players like that on DD!

I think Lolley would be a nice upgrade on Jota (if he was to leave as some reports have mentioned).

I wouldn't class Eze as a winger but I agree I would prefer both him and Benrahma over Bowen, though I think all 3 can make the step-up.

5 points, but still involved despite tonight's result

Suggested that weeks ago, on paper it's stronger than what's on show tonight.

WOW, that thread... They really are a bitter bunch!

Fair play to Bruce and the Geordies getting those results but it's extremely hard to take as a Villa fan, if each of those games were played 100 times over they would probably struggle to pick up TEN points! I'm glad I'm not watching their brand of football week in week out, having said that our equivalent fixtures (albeit our games against United & Chelsea were away from home) show that we are pretty similar in terms of our possession, shots on/off target (overall) just that we have conceded a lot more shots against us in these fixtures. That surprised me but I feel at least we are trying to play the right way where as Bruce is well.. doing what Bruce does! We are currently 7 points adrift from them in the league but I think it will be a lot closer come the 17th May - Here's hoping!

Thought the penalty and performance as sub at Rotherham was absolutely crucial to why we are playing Premier League football right now, for that alone I think he has proved a hit rather than a miss. Wish him all the best but trust Smith and the coaches decision to let him go, I just hope we are in for at least one other striker (in addition to Samatta) because we are looking extremely thin in this department. Good Luck Kodj!

Shame about Davis because he is decent at holding the ball up and bringing others into play, something we're clearly lacking without Wes. I'm not too sure RHM would offer much more than El Ghazi to be honest, having said that at least it would allow us to play Anwar in his correct position. Really disappointing not to have any reinforcements in.

Welcome Pepe! Not seen an awful lot of him since his Liverpool days where he was a very capable keeper, hopefully he will be a solid acquisition like Heaton was looking to be, prior the injury. A clean sheet Saturday would be a great start!

Like the look of that but I think Davis is going to be out a while longer hence no one else selecting him

That's pretty much how I am seeing things, but I don't think we could afford to go into the next set of games with that front two and expect to gain maximum points. #prayforastrikerortwo

Lambert, is that you?

Reina Konsa Phillips Mings Guilbert Nakamba Drinkwater Targett Grealish Benteke Morelos or Reina Guilbert Konsa Mings Targett Nakamba Drinkwater Grealish Benrahma Morelos Bowen Yes i'm bored.. but hopefully we have some new signings, especially a striker... If we don't I think it will be a 2-0 defeat I'm afraid! UTV

Yesterday again showed why he doesn't usually get selected against the better teams where we normally see less of the ball. I watched Conor many a times for Barnsley (I get it was in the lower league's) and he was never afraid to get stuck in and put himself about a bit, but I've barely seen him do that at all for Villa in his time here. That was the worst thing for me yesterday, not just Conor but the whole team, where was the fight, the aggression, the tackling... absolutely none of it, dreadful.

I think him being directly involved in us conceding three goals is pretty bad to be fair mate. I also think you're being a tad harsh on Hourihane and Lansbury, from a technical aspect I think both are a pretty capable, it's the other deficiencies in their game which is a problem. I would say he's technically head and shoulders over Nakamba and Luiz though. Anyway, the first 15 minutes showed to me he can be an asset to us and an upgrade to what we have, just needs to get to full speed and like you say time unfortunately isn't on our side with massive games coming up.

Was really impressed with him away at Leicester, looked commanding, looked a big frame in the goal, looked confident, made several decent saves and I was questioning the decision to bring in Reina. Today showed very much why we're in for Reina. Abysmal.

Voted Grealish MOTM but only cos he had to endure 90 minutes of that turgid Villa performance and deserves so much more than what his team mates offered today. Trezeguet was lively when he came on and fair play to him. In hindsight his and Nakamba's energy could have made things a little more bearable to watch. The team selection and notable inclusion of Drinkwater backfired immensely and he contributed to 3 (I think) of their goals. I'm not going to write him off because as daft as it sounds in the first 10 minutes he looked ok but then his legs went - 50 minutes before I thought they would. Was always going to be extremely difficult to get anything from the game as we all knew, but the players well n truly looked beaten before a ball was kicked and then it was just a case of keeping the score down. Defensively were shocking and having no real focal point to our attack meant it was just wave after wave of attacks and it was a painful watch. I rated Smith very poor but I think the players still let him and themselves down today and I wont be calling for his head off the back of this game. We need to regroup, get some signings in and do our upmost to stay in this league. Fair play to the Villa crowd that were still there singing at the end, class that.

**** it I'd drop the 5 at back at HT, were just inviting them on anyway. Nyland Guilbert Konsa Mings Hause Nakamba Luiz Trez Grealish Hourihane El Ghazi

As I said in pre-match they are obviously on a different level, but let's make them at least work for their goals and I'd be happy... we've done the exact opposite, we have been a disgrace to be fair. Absolutely no belief whatsoever in our play from minute 1 - and it's just getting rapidly worse. All we can hope for now is them to feel sorry for us and just play a bit of keep ball instead, pretend in their heads 20 passes = a goal (or something!) Nakamba for Drinkwater Guilbert for Taylor In fact I don't even know, we're just so bad!

Great debut from Drinkwater.... NOT! This could be 10!

Our team looks and IS severely inferior to that of City's, I doubt that the inclusion of Elmo over Guilbert changes that much. I don't expect 3 points, I don't expect 1 even, but I will be nevertheless happy if we play to our capabilities, give 110% and not be masters of our own downfall, if (or when) they score make them f**king work for it, that's all I ask! UTV

Lots of talk about Benteke, apologies if I have missed them, but has there been any real concrete links that this could seriously happen ? I for one hope it does, I wouldn't usually clamour for signing ex players and I realise Christian's form has plummeted since he left us - but I personally think he could and would work well with our current line up. It may be my heart more than my head, who knows, maybe it's just the desperation of our need for a new striker, probably two strikers but I would love it if he came here on a 6 months on loan (along with a higher calibre striker of course).