WakefieldVillan

Fair play?! F*** that! He could hardly deny it. Fair play would have been telling the ref he handballed it (twice)! Cnut!

Match winners on both sides so too hard to call which way this is going to go! I think we've played ok, probably shading the first half and a little unfortunate to be going in level. A little lucky with out goal but fair play for El Ghazi, if you don't shoot you don't score. Poor goal to concede, Tammy needs to hold the ball up there, the flick would have to be something pretty special to find Bolasie, from there Hutton should clear and Chester should have been closer to Gayle. Disappointing, because that aside, they haven't created a whole lot. Would like us to try keep the ball a bit more and wear them down. UTV

Thanks for the reply, appreciate that and it is always nice to hear another fans opinion on the promotion chase. I agree with elements of your post, but feel you are doing us a bit of a disservice saying our away form is patchy under Smith. Our away form under Smith (to try get back on topic, apologies Mods) is two close defeats in which we could easily have had 4 points from, followed by two tremendous 3-0 victories at Derby & Boro. I think tomorrow night could go either way and like pretty much everyone is predicting, the match will not be short of goals / chances - but Smith has got pretty much everything spot on since his arrival and I feel a lot more confident going into these games under his leadership.

Good post. Out of interest, what do you think the score will be on Friday night? And what would you consider a good result for Leeds? I'm guessing you think WBA are more of a threat than we are (which is fair given the league positions and your recent result against them).

Would love a decent cup run... Hoping for Doncaster or Barnsley away Prediction is Oxford at home

Absolutely thrilled with the 3 points yesterday and even more so with the performance. I posted in the pre-match thread that I would consider playing Jedinak (if fit) to combat Middlesbrough's aerial threat and was concerned they would physically be too strong for us. Well maybe watching us under Bruce has made me negative because thst is precisely what he would have done. I was wrong. Bruce was wrong. Smith picked another attacking team which bosses the game from start to finish, it was a joy to see our Villa pass and move, keep the ball, create chances, work hard for each other and the positivity of the manager is shining through each and every one of our players. A real TEAM performance & difficult to give a MOTM to, I chose El Ghazi, but I could argue a case for at least 5 others which shows how well we are progressing under this new regime. Happy for Nyland for keeping a clean sheet including the fine tip onto the bar, and kudos Smith for sticking by him in his team selection, I rated Dean's performance very good. Only saw the highlights of Derby away, so (for me) this is the best performance of the season.

As a couple of other posters have mentioned, I too would be tempted to start with Jedinak for his aerial presence, if he is fit and available for selection. Boro started Tuesday's game at Preston with Flint, Ayala, Batth, Hugill and Gestede all in the starting eleven, these are all six-foot plus and I worry that we will not be able to cope with the many set-pieces you can expect from a Pulis team. To be fair Gestede came off injured at Deepdale, so he probably won't start, but that means Assombalonga will and he's no doubt the better player and will cause us different problems to Rudy. Would probably have taken a point if offered prior to last night's game, but with two dropped points, we really could do with all 3, with the baggies next in line.

Haha - I know what you're saying, I did think it was a bit Bruce-esque! Basically, on current form Axel plays Centre Back and is currently playing very well, Chester is the one that should be dropped if for instance Cahill came in, but I can't see our club captain being left out and Axel is better than Hutton hence the back 5 I suggested. I personally think he could play at RB (under Smith) he's decent at bringing the ball forward, pacey and athletic, I wouldn't read much into his performances under Bruce there. Bottom line is our defence is a mess, as shown last night - can you honestly say you would prefer the defence / keeper that started last night over my selection? No way we would be conceding FIVE at home!

Tom Heaton and Gary Cahill on loan and Joe Bryan permanent if possible Heaton Axel Chester Cahill Bryan We've enough going forward as shown tonight

I'm just sat staring into space, bewildered with what I have just witnessed.. that is the craziest game of football I have EVER seen... Well.. since Preston! Girlfriend is upstairs, in bed (keep it clean boys)... I usually talk her through what's happened.. I did this at HT (lucky her) she said I looked rung out and should switch my phone off and go to sleep, I kinda wished I had, it's going to be impossible to switch off after that, think I've aged 5 years! Need time to digest it all in.

Maybe said in jest, but you did it to wind up. Another reason to hate Leeds I suppose.

We would if it was FOUR points for a win

I must admit I now and again look on their forum to read one of the many Villa threads (or vile as they like to call us) and I can't believe how 99% of them come across as real Neanderthals when talking about our great club. The jealousy is just something else. The comments in particular aimed at Jack is just utterly appalling. I remember the gloating after the play-off final and how they were loving our financial situation and they genuinely believed it was the end of AVFC, then the last ditch takeover and we are the spawniest club around. EVERY club has idiot fans including us, but from someone who doesn't live in Birmingham you can just tell which supporters out of the two are more respected. They will ALWAYS be in our shadow.

I feel his performances have improved since the arrival of Smith, but yesterday (for me) he was poor. He was beaten a couple of times with ease by Mahoney which could have resulted in goals and luckily for us Jota wasn't fit or he may have caused him a lot more problems. It's by far the position we need to strengthen first in January.

Presuming Adomah, Bjarnsson and Lansbury will not be fit for this one, but McGinn has recovered I would go; Nyland Elmo Tuanzebe Chester Hutton Hourihane McGinn Grealish Bolasie Abraham Kodjia Should be a decent game, can see it being a 1-1 draw, but hopefully can pinch all 3.

Absolutely over the moon that we beat that lot. Not living in Birmingham or being a brummie it's fair to say that I don't know (m)any blue noses, but I can imagine for some of you guys it is a nightmare going into work after a derby day defeat, so I am even more delighted for the local Villa fans! I don't think we played particularly well today, we looked vulnerable at every set piece (nothing new this season), first half we were slow and ponderous with and without the ball, Whelan dropping too deep, hourihane knocking balls into touch, Jack getting fouled with every touch, Chester looked shaky all game, Taylor was Taylor of old and to be fair, the blues looked comfortable for 35 minutes, hustling us all over the pitch, got their (expected) set-piece goal and I am not sure we would have recovered if Che Adams shot was a few inches to the right! But... that said... we have quality offensive players, don't we?! Two quick-fire goals, better wing play from Adomah and the games turned on its head! Second half was better, but I never felt too comfortable (the £30 bets I placed mid game on blues and a draw shows that!), but I completely forgot that we had the Scottish Cafu! What a goal! Overall, we were the better side, and it's a really good sign scoring 4 goals and not hitting real form! UTV

Not his biggest fan, but played well today with the two assists. Hopefully the injury isn't too serious, but a chance for Bolasie to show us what he's made of (from the start!)

I was browsing the Leeds forum yesterday and noticed this comment from one of their supporters which I found quite interesting (and pleasing) to hear; "I went to the Derby vs Villa game on Saturday. Derby were disappointing considering how good they have looked..............it was noticeable though that Mount was injured and Waghorn was out (not a great player but a physical presence). Villa looked a top 2 side in the 2nd half, they were all over Derby. Grealish, Hourihane & McGinn ran the game. Abrahams will score loads if kept fit. The most worrying thing was that Bolasie was on the bench...........he ripped Derby apart when he came on and put 2 goals on a plate for them. It was only one game but if Smith gets them going their squad is far superior to most others that a top 2 spot will be a stick on. Derby seemed similar to us which seems commonplace. You could see they had some quality but the final third they were poor and missed Mount big time." Nice to see our promotion rivals see us a threat!

I felt when we signed him he was going to be a cracking player at this level, but he just hasn't done it in a claret and blue shirt. He always looks like he has a mistake in him and struggles against a variety of strikers. I'd rather have Jedinak as a back-up central defender for now, purely because, unlike Elphick, at least he is dominant in the air, but hopefully we can get someone else in on loan in January as we are obviously short in this area.

SOnly seen the highlights and a 10-minute fan blog which was cracking to watch and see the Villa fans in such joyous mood! A cracking performance by all accounts (particularly second half), I had a sneaky feeling we might get a victory when I saw Mount & Waghorn were out for them, but still a result that sends out a real statement to our promotion rivals. Without harping on about Bruce (who I liked as a person) there is no way we achieve a result (& performance) like this under his reign and the difference between the two managers philosophy and outlook going into games is such stark contrast. Delighted in particular for Nyland to keep a clean sheet with a couple of vital first half saves to boot, Tammy with another goal, midfielders chipping in too, no card for Jack and Bolasie looking sharper with each appearance... Bring on the blues!

Apologies if I have missed it in the thread, but what are the correct lyrics we use in the super John McGinn chant? Is it... We've got McGinn, super John McGinn, I just don't think you'll understand, he's Stevey Bruce's man??, he's better than Zidane, we've got super John McGinn ?? Only seen the highlights, but sounds like he had another good game, looks to be playing further forward and nice to see him grab himself a goal, cracking signing and an absolute steal for the money we paid!

I agree, they knock it about well and good to watch, done a cracking job Wilder, only won one in five though! #wilderout ?

I'd go with the same back 5 again, obviously there are weaknesses that we all know about, but I think having a settled defence would outweigh the possible improvements of changing the full back positions, if that makes sense? With Tammy as our main man up top, I would go for a midfield selection of either; Hourihane Elmo McGinn Grealish Kodjia Or; Whelan Bolasie McGinn Grealish Kodjia Basically I feel if Bolasie starts I would like the insurance of Whelan sitting, over Conor, and for me Adomah just doesn't do it for me (but I think he will start & hope he proves me wrong). Be a tough test this, Huddlestone will sit deep and look to dictate play, we need McGinn to give him no time and space, Jack likewise. Predicting goals, both teams, unfortunately think the Rams will edge it! UTV

And you come to this conclusion after 4 games of Smith's tenure, 2 in which we have won and the other 2 where we could have easily got 4 points out of 6 in what were tricky away games, all this whilst playing much more positive football with players being played in the correct positions and a general good vibe around Villa at the moment that was missing under Bruce? I might be wrong but I think you could just possibly be a WUM!

Looking at our next 6 games and if we are serious for (automatic) promotion I would say that we need 12 points as a minimum; Derby (A) 1 pt (0) Blues (H) 3 pts (1) Forest (H) 3 pts (3) Boro (A) 1 pt (1) West Brom (A) 1 pt (0) Stoke (H) 3 pts (3) Basically win the home games, draw the away matches, with the bonus of a 7-game spell unbeaten and we would be set up brilliantly for the visit of Leeds on the 22nd Dec... Figures in brackets however, are what I think we will muster up, which will probably keep us outside the play off spots prior the January window.