Jay.P.A

No what I said was, we want to be in the same position where - if there were injuries in our team, we have the squad so that a player can come in and do a job and we can carry on playing in 'our' system - and not rely heavily on individual brilliance every game. We could have our youngsters come in and support the first team and apply pressure for competition for places.

How much have Real suffered with Ronaldo this season though? And I'm not sure if you've watched many Barca games, but without Messi when he was injured - they were shocking. Leaking goals and their threat upfront without Messi was quite bad. As a result Suarez struggled and went on a bit of a goaless streak. Watch the games rather then just looking at the final result.

They don't have necessarily set the world alight on loan in order to come back and be a part of Villa's future - case and point Gabby Agbonlahor. When we went out on loan he didn't do much but when he came back he went on to become Villa's leading top goalscorer in the PL. It's all about experience. Plus some of these players have only just got there a few weeks ago. Time to adjust.

The principle is still the same. They are the stars for their team and their team suffers when they're not playing.

Do you know how influential this guy is to our club? Just read the stats when he was playing. Dribbles, fouls, touches, freekicks won, key passes. Jheeze. It's like ripping the steering wheel out the car - it will still drive but we'll have no direction.

Isn't that what we're trying to do though? Our academy players have gone out on loan for that exact reason. We'll be able to call on our youngsters next season for that purpose. Squad depth and blooding in our own, younger players who will be able to play Smith's high pressing, high tempo football. Bielsa has had time with his squad to produce these results - that's what we need to give Smith.

Please see the stats when we first faced QPR during Smith's first few games - I'm sure QPR were the top form team when we played them - They had about 3/4 clean sheets and went 6/7 games unbeaten. The more recent one was more indicative of your point.

The comparison with Leeds is a terrible I'm afraid mate - they have a good depth in their squad - they have what ultimately what we want to be able to do - if a player gets injured then another one can come in and fit directly into their system. They're ahead of us because of the way they play footy because of the development in the squad. They've been down in the Championship so long but it's great to see they've finally got their act together. They're sitting 3rd in the table but they did just lose to QPR who are the worst team in the league at the moment in terms of form, so poor results will happen. I agree with you in terms of a winning formula - however we are creating enough chances to win games in every game of this poor run. If we weren't creating anything then I'd also be very worried.

So let me get this straight - if Smith loses or draws games it's his fault and he's a 'shit' manager, but if we starts winning games then it's only because of Jack Grealish? Lol, damned if he does and damned if he doesn't with some fans already.

Smith hasn't cowered away from responsibility has he? His post match interviews are pretty much spot on when it comes to describing what happened during the game. If we were shit he says we were shit. Even when we were good he says there are things we could improve. He has high standards for himself and his teams. You've got to remember what the requirements and the expectations of the club are now....complete overhaul. With all due respect, if we get play-off by some miracle then great, if not I don't think the owners are too worried about results this season. Don't get me wrong, recent results have not been good. But I don't think some of the performances have been as shit as people think. Confidence is low, creativity in this team has been at a premium, and the experienced players just can't perform anymore due to ability and motivation.

Mate - he is the head coach. This is bigger then Smith. He has a big input in players but our set up now has a bigger input. We as a club are evolving and we're not like we were for the last two decades.

Oooh this is a fun game. I wonder what you will say if we start winning games with Grealish back?

Not sure if you've got a poor memory or just being talking bollocks on purpose. Smith said, 'We knew we weren't going to be able to outplay Brentford, but I know they have their weaknesses and we tried to exploit them. If we took our chances we would've won the game."

OK - Here's definitive proof why it wasn't Jack Grealish - in order for someone to 'not be shown in this view' - they can only do that if they have a private account. Jack's official account has been public for years. Sorry but it wasn't him.

JV, completely agree. A lot of people in this thread will be eating a lot of humble pie next season. One particular poster in here is upset that he's only ever finished 'mid-table' - that in itself shows he or she is not capable of fore-seeing progression. If any of the so called 'big managers' in today's world weren't given a chance at some point of their careers to step up as Smith has, they wouldn't be where they are now. We went down the 'tried and tested' route to immediate results - and that has led us to where we are now - no where. Bruce, RDM, etc. What we're doing now is building for the future and sustainability - as all big clubs are doing. Yes the results might be shitty now - but they won't be for long. And OK - if Smith doesn't do well, we're only going to bring in someone of a similar ilk, our fans need to realise what our club is at the moment - just another 'big' club in the Championship trying to get promoted. A lot of the criticism in this thread is a lot of conjuncture and short-sighted.

Yup, that one bit of brilliance in an ultimately poor and unfortunate Villa career. Gave his all, which as fans is all we can ask for, but unfortunately was not good enough. Still, I give props to the guy as his attitude is second to none - just didn't have the ability to match.

Sorry bro - I just don't believe you at all. You would've got a notification or email if it got liked by a verified twitter account. Plus - if he didn't want to like it he could've just unliked it. Plus countless others would've seen 'Jack Grealish liked this' and had seen it as well. You probably got mistaken by a fake account of Grealish.

Feel for Henri. Could've been a decent player for us this season - he's got that bite/aggression we need in midfield. Saw a post on his Insta a few weeks ago, just pure frustration - said something along the lines of "Can someone just buy me a new hamstring please ffs".

The performance against Derby and Boro were better IMO. They were 'complete performances'. They were all fantastic results, but the plaudits we recieved from the pundits also showed how good the performances were under Smith. We tend to go to shit after good performances though Went to shit after the Wolves game under Bruce, and under Smith although we actually done better from that tough fixture list during Xmas our results turned in Jan.

To you - as a fan. Not the powers at the club. if they're serious about the future then they're not going to pull the trigger over a couple of bad results in a massive transitional period. We're probably not going to make the play-off and we're safe from relegation, so who knows what the owner's requirements are remits are. Again, we tried to 'buy' the league and failed even though we 'won matches'. Building a sustainable model is much more important for us as a club rather then a few wins in a season where we're not going to do anything.

You can't win matches without building a foundation - you're contradicting yourself mate. Name all the best managers you can and list all their accomplishments - and then study their first seasons. Tell me you can't see their first seasons (apart from some exceptions) were generally average to poor. Takes time to build and actually put a stamp on teams.

wtf? Are you feeling alright? Your views seem a tad bit simplistic and quite short sighted. "Good managers win matches and poor ones don't" - so there's no other factors? It's just black and white to you.

What's wrong with Brentford? Small club that made about 80m on player sales while only spending less then 10, AND STILL FINISHING mid-table, despite selling their best players - WHILE OUTPLAYING THE MIGHTY ASTON VILLA EVERYTIME WE PLAY THEM. lol. If we can do 'Brentford' but on a massive scale, where we can get promoted and promote our youth, and play the way they play - sign me the **** up. What's your ideal team then, if not 'young and hungry'? 'Old and overfed'?

Limited manager? By whose standards? The managers we've had in the last decade? Where ever the guy has been he's been considered a success - doing it the right way. Working hard with smaller teams and rising through the ranks. He needs to build 'his' team - because it's harsh to judge him right now when these players were signed by a different type of manager who's ideologies and methods are outdated and are coming to the end of their careers. The way Smith wants to play is fast, competitive football with an emphasis on possession based system - where we don't have rely on individual bits of brilliance as Bruce did every game (Snodgrass, Adomah, Grealish, Grabban). Finally he's own of us - mean more to him when we win, and I'm sure it hurts a damn lot more to him when we lose then another manager who doesn't have a previous affinity with our great club.

I could write a lot of spiel about Jack being out (Who I and most people would consider one of, if not the best player in the Championship) and Axel, who was in great form before breaking a metatarsal. You're literally taking out the spine of the team - Smith is used to having players which the 'advanced' ability on the ball - not the average players like Whelan, Jedinak, Hutton, Taylor, Adomah, etc, who have basic technique on the ball. Like I said his Brentford team have not just played us off the part just the once - it's literally every time we've faced them. It's not a coincidence and I wouldn't be surprised in 6 months time with a complete overhaul that we'll be playing better football which will help us in the long run.