Hiney

Really can't work out our shape or plan here.

11.30pm kick off here. Ordinarily there would be no doubt about staying up to watch it. There is now no doubt I will be going to bed and hoping I wake up in the morning to a respectable scoreline. I have lost all motivation to watch Villa and I fear this could get really ugly, really fast.

Didn't like him as a player, didn't want him here as manager and he has done nothing to change my mind. The football is reminiscent of the Remi Garde days except with a far superior squad. Watching the likes of Leeds playing high pressure and expansive football just really highlights how far away we are from competing in this league.

I watched the Spurs Southampton rerun this morning and despite getting beat 4-1, Southampton looked miles more organised and better than what we did.

Martinez - 6 - Didn't really have to do much other than pick the ball out of his net twice. Let down by woeful defending Cash - 5 - Ran a lot but was sloppy on the ball and didn't really offer anything going forward. Was at fault for the 2nd goal, didn't even challenge for a header. Konsa - 4 - Big mistake to throw him in after just coming back from a long lay off with not many minutes. Coupled with a downturn in form / confidence last season. Doesn't look a premier league defender at the moment Carlos - 5 - Is better with the ball at his feet than Mings but didn't show the dominance or leadership qualities. I think he has the potential to be a good player but it wasn't good a display today. Digne - 5 - Similar to Cash, ran a lot but very little end product. Poor display Kamara - 7 - Our only slight positive. Broke play up well and can pick a pass - also some promising contributions in the final third too McGinn - 5 - Sloppy in possession and doesn't impose himself on the game at this level. Has been a passenger for a while and astonishing Gerrard picked him as captain. Ramsey - 5 - Needs dropping and to earn his way back in the team. Bags of potential but shot of confidence at the moment - doesn't work with McGinn in the middle Coutinho - 4 - Not sure what he brings to the team. Is a luxury player we don't know how to utilise and trying to fit him into the team is becoming a problem Bailey - 6 - Some promising signs first half but very predictable and far too reliant on his left foot. Doesn't run at defenders enough for me Ings - 5 - Had no service but just doesn't look up to it for me. Looks sluggish, laboured and slow. Buendia - 5 - Unable to impose himself on the game - looked shot of confidence and match fitness. Watkins - 5 - Made no impact whatsoever Luiz - 6 - No much time to really make an impact but showed why he should be starting. Comfortable in possession and looks to get things moving. Archer - Not enough time to really make any impact at all

Same shit, different season.

I predict 2 months of optimism and excitement for the new season fizzles out as we labour to a 1-1 draw.

20m for a prospect with a handful of premier league appearances in which he hasn't exactly set the world on fire. Football has officially gone mad. He might go on to be a world beater and 20m will seem like peanuts in the future but history would suggest there's more chance of his career going the other way.

I see it quite simply. He has been offered a contract, getting on for 12 months ago which he is yet to sign. By all accounts it's a very good offer. He has also received ample game time for someone of his age, and while he has shown promise, he hasn't burst onto the scene like Rooney did at 16 years of age where he almost instantly becomes a guaranteed starter. Either he is receiving very bad advice or he is getting well above his station but I can't see him going to a "big" club at Barcelona and getting game time for a good while yet. He is in the best place here to develop and if he fulfils his promise then there is bound to be "big" clubs interested in him in the future. We have tried the softly softly approach, given him game time, offered him a decent contract but we aren't seeing anything back from him. I totally agree to leaving him out of the tour and relegating him to the youth side. You either want to be here or you don't, and it seems like the latter with him. I'd rather we spent our time developing our talented prospects that do

Did more in 10 minutes than Coutinho's done in the past 3 games.

Looked much better when he came off. I'd be inclined to start Buendia ahead of him in the next game, he works a lot harder and puts a shift in. Done very little in the last few games and is a luxury player we just can't afford at the moment

As bad as anything under Smith the last few games. Teams have worked out plan A and we don't have a plan B. I was sceptical about the appointment, didn't seem an upgrade on Smith and unfortunately seems I'm being proven right. Need a big performance against Brighton or serious questions have to be asked about keeping him on

A luxury player that no one else seems on the same wavelength. Not his fault, he is genuinely world class but it's just not working the past few games. I expect more than just a few glimpses of quality, we should be running everything through him

Congratulations! I had a daughter born in December and named her Emi. Mr Buendia has been awesome since then so hope its a good sign

So he is back in the good books now then?

Nakamba and Cash stand out players for me. Nervy second half and could tell it was the refs first premier league game. He seemed to let quite a lot go that normally wouldn't in the Premier league but then blew for some soft ones too. I think both sets of fans would be frustrated with his performance Watkins struggling to impose himself on the game, looks off the pace. Overall great to get back to back wins

Wouldn't have been my first choice but now he is here he will get 100% of my support. I've got a good pal who is a Rangers fan that is devastated he has gone, he said he absolutely transformed the club from top to bottom. I think it's a good indication of someone's talents when their former clubs fans speak so highly of them. I was apprehensive before the appointment but I'm feeling more and more excited as it sinks in.

Sacking Dean and replacing him with Steven Gerrard would be massively underwhelming

I'm a big Smith fan but he has to shoulder the blame for that. I get the Luiz substitution given all the travelling he has had and Nakamba has been very good recently. However taking Buendia off was poor judgement, Ings coming off would have been more logical. Our midfield was no existent for the last 20 minutes. I don't like the 5-3-2 system, Tuanzebe just isn't up to it and was poor from the first minute and very lucky to not get punished for his mistakes. Watkins and Ings up top doesn't work, I think both have their qualities but they don't work together and they both suffer because of it. Watkins is a shadow of what he was last season. It's disappointing as for 80 minutes we were quite comfortable and deserved to win. Horrible last 10 minutes costs us

Not even on the bench, is he injured?

I think he will prove to be a very astute signing, it was as an impressive debut as I can remember seeing from a Villa player especially given he has only been with the squad a couple of days and hasn't had a preseason. I understand he prefers to play on the right side though and this is his strongest position, as it is with Traore and Buendia. I'm a big believe in round pegs in round holes so it will interesting to see how Smith puts them all into our system - as it stands we have a big Jack Grealish sized gap on the left-hand side and no one that plays that role as their first choice. Will Bailey be used primarily on the left?

It was a bad performance but let's face it, you could have had prime Maradona out there in that first half and he would have looked terrible. It was just an awful performance across the board for 90% of the game - i'm not going to read too much into it. He hasn't had a proper preseason, is lacking match fitness and is joining a club with a huge price tag on his head and lofty expectations for the first time in his career. He has big shoes to fill in that number 10 shirt after Jack's departure and I think as others mentioned, it really looked like he was trying too hard. I'm 100% confident he will improve as he gets his match fitness and gels into the team - we also have to make sure we are playing him in his preferred position and to his strengths. We need to be supporting the lads rather than jumping on their backs after 1 bad performance.

Watford were fitter and wanted it more, they were half a yard faster than us all over the pitch especially in the first half. Most people wanted Targett to start but he was shocking today, I really hope it was a one off and not a sign of things to come. He really looked to push on last season but that was reminiscent of when we first signed him. We looked a lot more solid after the change and when Young went to left back. Nakamba poor, probably the worst I've seen Matty Cash and Buendia was terrible too. Ings didn't do much but had no service Highlights Ramsey when he came on and Bailey looks a player. We looked like a team who had a disjointed preseason, lost our talisman 1 week before the season started and had a number of players either out or not match fit. Watkins was a huge miss with his pressing and runs into the channels. Bad day at the office and need to dramatically improve next week

A terrible 45 minutes for sure but the overreaction here is beyond ridiculous.

Based on suspected injuries and who has had minutes in preseason I'd go for something like this. ...................Martinez ...................... Cash.....Konsa.....Mings.....Targett ............McGinn....Nakamba........... Traore............Buendia ............Young ........................Ings....................... Bailey as an impact sub if we need something to happen later on in the game. Really hope we get off to a good start but the disjointed preseason worries and Watford being at home I don't think it will be straight forward. Watford will be well up for it, with their home fans behind them and we saw what happened with Brentford last night, it would be naïve to think this will be walk over. Head says draw, heart says narrow 2-1 Villa win