GrassyNoel

5-5 v Forest for me and I was also ecstatic that Derby beat Leeds in the playoff semis: I was convinced it was going to be us v Leeds in the final and I really didn’t fancy us at all against them.

Magnificent post. It’s where I am too, especially the point about moving from relying on Joe to relying on Bailey (or danger of).

Or level 4 labs….

FFS

Anyway, relax. Arsenal will collapse with 10 minutes to go and we’ll win 3-2.

Trouble is we’ll hang our excuses on that pen. We’ve got nothing less than we deserve.

Leave a player up for an out ball option Villa FFS

Exactly. Having the money is one thing, being able to spend it is another. They'll be in shape long term, but short term needs solid steps, much like we've shown. Howe or Potter would be great for them I'd say.

You're right - it's a lot of petulance on my part. I'll get over it. Thanks - I needed that.

It was amateurish and small-time. It was a dreadful advert for us as a club. It felt like many, many steps backward. It annoyingly further vindicated Joe's decision to leave, and I really hate it for that. Of course all teams lose, but the manner of it still makes we feel queasy four days later.

Good post. Ultimately, that's the point. The talk of Europe is either that - talk - or it's what they genuinely want and expect us to achieve. It's up to them, they own us. Our opinions are interesting and (largely) fun to discuss - surely the point of a forum like this - but we're all guessing, venting and spitballing - plus there seem to be some implicit Blasphemy Laws being created (on both sides of the debate) which get in the way. It'll be interesting to see what moves Newcastle make now Bruce has gone, and I mention this as I strongly suspect whatever direction they take will inform the future direction of our own managerial debate e.g. if they go large for a Zidane profile manager we'll have fans who are cross we haven't done similar and shown more ambition, and if they go are modest and for a longer term growth / youth policy it'll underscore that maybe we are on the right track and being sensible. If they do both...hmmm.

Indeed - success for Smith is success for Villa, and we all benefit. Problem is, results such as Saturday's surface an unease about Smith that some feel; we cannot point to Smith's winning history for reassurance.We can point at solid progress from where we were to where we are though. We just have to see if we can take the next steps with him.

We look so ponderous at times, then play some really lovely, incisive stuff. Can't work us out at the moment.

Slightly related I guess: I deleted Twitter this week. It's been absolutely glorious. Thought I'd miss the Villa news but I don't, and the lack of idiotic nonsense from all and sundry is total bliss, like turning off a TV that's blaring nothing but white noise. Highly recommended. On topic: 2-1 Villa, Ings on the board. UTV.

Very true about RedCafe - very fair and decent comments re Villa.

Best Villa content by far for me. Love it. Worth tuning in just for the Subbuteo setup

My sentiments exactly.

In case anyone has missed the fount of accurate football info that is Football Insider... https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-smith-fighting-for-his-job-at-aston-villa-as-manager-masterplan-revealed/

Farage is at a loose end...

Agreed. Saturday will have underlined that imo. UTV.

Only just sunk in that both those passes last night were with different feet...jeez. Some player.

It's worth the money just to annoy certain PinkUn posters. In seriousness I'd be interested to see what our coaches could get out of him. The lad has his moments.

Good for him. Jack has a right to reply - anyone with a backbone would want their side heard. I'd say just once though, and this is as far as he should take it unless directly asked (interviews etc).

We can't really help stumbling across newspaper garbage on antisocial media, but anyone who actively buys a newspaper these days needs their head checking.

So chuffed. Chuffed with his abilities coming to help our club improve, chuffed to have beaten Arsenal and made them "embarrassed", chuffed to have riled some of the saltier Norridge fans (petty I know but blimey there's some bad feeling towards us from some quarters there - I had no idea). Also hoping it's a good signal to other players we may be after: we're serious, and we want you to come along for this exciting journey.