AXD

You must be a lot of fun at dinner parties

West Ham win, I prefer to play them already safe with watford going to Arsenal

Why? He is showing ManU he’d fit right in

I don't think Smith is a bad manager or became a bad manager. It just seems the chemistry between him and the players has disappeared. I would be all for a new coach for the last 4 games, with the option of staying on if he can keep us up (Allardyce, Hughton). Smith could easily get another job in the championship an in the future get back to the PL, he will have learned from this. I am not sure if he can get us back up if he were to stay on, because of the lack of chemistry. On the other hand, it would give us stability, something we haven't seen at Villa in ages. I disagree with all the negative comments on here about Smith. Same was said about Bruce ('terrible coach') but that terrible coach is now doing fine with a newcastle team that most on here deemed not better than ours. It's just a matter of momentum and chemistry. I also don't believe all our players are shit (comments on here after games are always inspiring), but rather out of form (Grealish, McGinn) or demoralised. But that's just my opinion.

I’d say a Newcastle win, to give them an outside chance for a european spot. They should have something to play for, while west ham should stay as close to us as possible for the time being

Exactly this. I seem to recall Veretout, Ayew Gueye Traore and Amavi getting slated very often on here, same as with our current players like Luiz (less so the last few games), Nakamba, Targett, Guilbert & Wesley. These players are being bought because of their resale value rather than current performances. They are all young and far from their peak. This year we lack even more PL experienced players, even the Sherwood team had that and of course Lambert had that. Our defence in the last few years performed best when we had at least one experienced player leading them (Vlaar, Chester, Terry) which this team does not have. I know there are other examples like Lescott, but overall an experienced player helps the others develop. Mings is good and talented, but we made him a hero based on half a season in the championship. Midfield, same story. Someone already mentioned Petrov on here, last year we had Whelan and Jedinak. These players don't have to start every match for me, but they are vital in finding a good balance and keeping people in right positions on the field. I think Whelan on the bench would have been better than Nakamba, even though the latter might have a better future. Smith could and should have done better, and the players probably can do better. But the situation has been created by our management. Going into the PL after a few years in the Championship with a complete overhaul of the team during the summer without getting any experienced PL players to take the lead, is just a bad decision. We can still stay up, and will probably be a better team for it next year with players' value going up, but we took too big a risk in how we assembled this team. I still hope we stay up, but to avoid another season at the bottom, I would also hope to see some 30 year old players in the door with 200-300 games in the PL.

I'm hoping they're still hyped this week to play Man City, just to show they are the deserved champions and drop the ball after that (conveniently dropping points against us). As long as we don't concede too many against Liverpool, I'll be satisfied as our goal difference is what currently keeps us in the relegation spots

Usually one of the bottom teams finds a bit a form this late in the season. Watford, West Ham, bournemouth and norwich are not doing it (neither are we) but whoever gets a few points more than expected could stay up. I guess a point away at Newcastle is better than losing at burnley.

I wouldn’t. Dennis is decent but has too many flaws to be a good player for us. He is often selfish and loses possession because he wants to dribble another man. On a par with Trezeguet right now. He can still improve though, but we don’t need any more players for the future. diatta would be a better option at Brugge. More of a winger, better attitude, has international tournament experience,...

I take it 'retain our prem status'='retain jack' If so: 2 wingers and an experienced CM (genre Whelan/Jedinak, but on PL level). AEG and trezeguet are the weakest links for me, too many opportunities wasted, not enough football brains. Also we need someone to keep a level head at times in games, which neither Nakamba or Luiz are doing. I didn't go for a CB as I do believe that our back line of Targett, Mings, Engels and Guilbert still has a lot of potiential and the decent cover from midfield would already help them out. (though they haven't really proven my point just yet)

We played quite well in the final, so if that form of the day would have been used to play Sheffield, I'm not so sure you are right. (we played shit since that game though)

What if we scrap the 28th fixture, seeing as there are four teams who have not played it. Coincidentally, Norwich, Watford and West Ham won their game.

Are we to lose the mighty Baston in a few weeks? How can this be? How will we cope?

Belgian league went down from 18 to 16 10 years ago

Then he’s an idiot. If he wants to leave us, he would do so to win cups and titles. No way ManU are doing that in the near future. Many of the best players in the world went to ManU since Fergie left and they never really achieved anything. Grealish should aim for Liverpool or City. Of course, if he has his mind set on it, we should squeeze every last penny out of whoever is buying him, but no sense in keeping him here if he wants to go.