PompeyVillan

At home? That really would be something.

Interesting that Keinan Davis is preferred on the bench and to whatshisnamethatusedtoplayforbrentford. Otherwise it's an utterly uninspiring team. Seeing Bjarnason in the team makes me sad, I'm not one for hyperbole but I genuinely feel that Doyle-Hayes would be much more useful in the midfield. The front three should be dangerous, if we can get the ball to them.

I'm politically engaged and even I've had enough of this shite. What a load of toss this whole situation is, it's brought out the worst in the whole country.

It's easy, the BBC seem to manage it easily enough. Just get a camera out and go and interview 'shoppers' in Stoke in Trent on a weekday when everyone else is at work

As long as hard Brexit is off the table I think I will be able to live with the outcome of this mess. I dearly hope Theresa May truly does listen to the opposition. She will only get a deal through parliament by getting closer to those who want to remain closer to EU on the opposite benches than the lunatics in her own party who want no deal.

It's perverse isn't it? He stands up and thanks Theresa May for the money for healthcare, schools and infrastructure. The sheer brass neck to gloat about the unfair bribe that keeps the Conservative party in power. The rest of the UK deserves that investment too, but because it's being invested in it's people not for borderline corrupt political gain. That's what sort of government we have. One where it's party's own MPs will roundly reject it's biggest policy, but then vote to keep confidence in the government, to keep themselves in parliament.

And then resign the week after, only to be reinstated the following week. Strong and stable.

It's not a single Conservative or DUP MPs own personal interest to have another general election, because of this Brexit mess and whatever position they may have taken they may lose their seat in a GE. Therefore, they won't back a vote of no confidence. Nothing to do with 'national interest', don't believe a word of that. Simple self preservation. The EU won't renegotiate the deal, so the only options are for No Deal or a referendum. There is no appetite in parliament for no deal, because that would be a stain on national politics for years to come, so the only outcome I can see that makes sense is to have another referendum.

I don't get it. He shouts crude things in an Australian accent, that seems to be the joke. That in itself isn't funny. Another thing I don't get is this Tik Tok app which is aggressively targeting me on YouTube adverts. It seems like back lipsyncing app for teenage girls where the video duration is about 15 seconds.

That's disgusting. Disgusting food and lacking in nutrition. I hope that's a one off, the chef was ill or the freezer broke or something else. I'd like to think it was a one off, because to think that people are fed that trash every day is depressing.

I think the crux of Smith's style of play is that fundamental to it's success, it needs a dynamic midfield that can retain possession when needed, play the ball through the opposition and maintain a high and intelligent pressing game. It requires center backs that are comfortable on the ball, who can step out on occasion with the ball and create space for the midfield. We have two central midfielders capable of that style if football and one of them is injured. That's a big concern for me, we need to offload Bjarnason because he's toss, and we could do with getting shot of Jedinak and Whelan, but their contract situation means we'll be stuck with them until the summer. I'd sell Lansbury too because he's so injury prone, and he hasn't really done anything in a Villa shirt, I suspect his wages would be a problem for any other Championship clubs that would be interested. So, in short we're stuck with lots of midfielders and no options. That's not Smith's fault, but what troubles me is that I don't think he can shoehorn them into his system, he might have to compromise and play to their strengths a bit more which would totally compromise his system. Center back is also a problem position. We're hugely missing Tuenzebe. He is excellent on the ball and rapid off it, so he's able to cover his teammates at times. But Tuenzebe is the only defender we have who looks comfortable in Smith's system. Chester was been really quite poor this season, he seems to struggle with making the forward pass like Tuenzebe has, he's being dominated physically and looks low on confidence. Elphick is ok but very much seems like a stopgap and Hause looked woefully under prepared when he came on yesterday. Our full back options are also cack, Hutton 'does a job' but his quality on the ball is poor even in the championship. Taylor is our best left back and that's a problem because at best he's okay. I've watched back the goals from yesterday, the second goal was the one that should really worry us. We cleared the corner, but our fullbacks were on their opposite sides, Bree attempted to get back on the right when the opposition had the ball, meaning that there was a massive gap that three Wigan players exploited. Hourihane didn't notice the danger and nobody in the back 4 was organising the situation. Taylor made a pathetic attempt to stop the cross which was good and the Wigan player had a free header at the back post when we had almost our entire team behind the ball. FFS that is unacceptable. Bolasie wound me up too, he didn't do Taylor any favours, in the second half he didn't track back every time. Fundamentally I think there are problems with personnel, our squad are not as good as many think it is, and it isn't all that suited to Smith's style of football.

Wow, that was a miserable performance. 4,000 Villa fans deserve a refund and a apology letter in the post. Whatever sparkle we had before Christmas has well and truly been extinguished. Wigan put us under pressure and we crumpled. There was no structure or pattern to any of our play, we couldn't get our of our half. Wigan pressed us well, but what disappointed me is that we didn't have the quality or the desire to overcome it. The midfield were awful, barring McGinn who tried his hardest to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. But let's talk individuals, I thought Chester was lucky not to be pulled rather than Elphick. He looks uncomfortable on the ball and didn't win anything in the air against hardly the most imposing front line. Taylor was timid, scared to try anything on the ball resulting in putting whoever he passed to under pressure, off the ball he stood off and let Wigan play. Bree was meh, he's not on the naughty list but has proven that right back is still a problem position for us and he isn't the answer. Bjarnason needs putting out of his misery, being able to run seems to be his only quality. I'd like to never see him in a Villa shirt again. What's galling is that our only other option is Glen Whelan who is 5 or 6 years past his prime, and in his prime he wasn't good enough for us. Hourihane looks pedestrian alongside McGinn, who is the only player in our midfield who looks bothered. Central midfield is a big problem for us, without Grealish we lack any sort of creativity, it's apparent how reliant we are on him. El Ghazi is blows hot and cold, and as such you can't rely on him consistently. Made a few good runs today and have the ball away stupidly many more times. Bolasie is a fancy Dan past his best who when the chips are down doesn't care enough to help his team out. He needs dropping, regardless of who our other options are. Abraham tried but wasn't given much service today. He missed a golden opportunity early on, he's got a habit of only scoring goals you would really expect a striker to score. He gets into good positions and times his runs well, but his finishing is so so, he's never going to single handedly pull a rabbit out a hat and get you back in the game. He's a striker that is always a reflection of the teams overall performance. Hause looked decidedly dodgy when he came on. He didn't learn from getting mugged not long after coming on, he continued to do it. I think he got caught in possession 3 times, I think he was only on the pitch for half an hour. A shocking debut and worrying sign of things to come. Kalinic equally hasn't filled me with confidence, he got his hand to the second goal but it still went it. The last two performances has sapped the enthusiasm out of me completely. Obviously we're missing Grealish who is our best player by a mile and Tuenzebe has also been a massive miss, but the drop in performance from the team has been appalling. We'll be lucky to make the top half let alone the play offs. I don't know what Smith is doing, but isn't working. That was up there with the worst Villa performances I've ever seen.

I can't think of a worse performance than this, it's up there with the worst I've ever seen. No hyperbole.

There should be no punishment from the football authorities, however trespassing is a civil offence and that's up to authorities to deal with. In my opinion it's wordremovedish and totally goes against the fun of football. Football is sport and not life and death, Bielsa obviously isn't a tactical genius, he's a sneaky ghet. A bit like the QPR on field antics against us, it's something that I very much hope is below anyone at Villa. Funny how this sort of thing seems to suit Leeds though isn't it?

I'm pleased with a loan with an option to buy because I'm not sure about him, he's unproven and has barely played for Wolves. It is the sort of transfer I expect us to do, and I support it, we need players with something to prove, that can improve and won't cost a fortune. Welcome and good luck.

We're at the behest of our owners and have been for some time. For better or worse and unfortunately foreign ownership has nearly destroyed our club. It's easy to get carried away with thinking that our new owners are lovely benefactors or custodians like Randy Lerner said he was, but the reality is we don't really know their intentions, but it is safe to say that they're not plowing money into a failing club for the pleasure of spending. They can do what they want, which is fine if all goes well. But people come and go and becoming reliant on two fairly old rich guys for the continuity and future of the club makes me nervous indeed. It's not something that colours my footballing experience, I still enjoy going to games, but I would like to see sustainable fan ownership of the club.

I've just watched Smith Facebook post game. He actually said "... I am annoyed with the players... I won't brush this under the carpet, I want answers from players as to why we got certain performances". He mentioned that Villa fans love McGinn because he plays every game like it is his last, and that he said this to the players. He seems angry with a lack of effort and application.

I think what this tells us is that our squad players are not up to the job. Which is worrying because when you have injuries, like we have, you need those players to be able to come into the side and either fill in or add something different. Which is worrying because we already need to replace 1/2 of the team at the end of season anyway.

Part of me feels that May wouldn't knowingly destroy the country with no deal.

I don't understand how you can be offended by Gregg's serving a vegan sausage roll. I know it's a joke, but it is a bit small minded.

Well I gave blood again today for the third time. When I read stories like I have on this thread it breaks my heart and I wish that more that I could do.

Meh, I think that football is entertainment and that if you're injured then it's important to get the correct treatment, but if it going to take 10 minutes, whilst 38,000 people have to wait frustrated and to the significant disadvantage to the other team then you need to be substituted so that the game can go on. Sorry, but watching a physio mess around with a minor head injury isn't what people pay money to watch. If he had a spinal injury or a serious head injury, no problem, wait as there is no other way. He got a knick that cut him, there was no significant blow to his head. They would have been able to tell quite quickly (within a few minutes) if he had a serious head injury, or a concussion, when they realised that he didn't they took it as an opportunity to waste more time. The time wasting was a clear strategy set out before the game, they were all in on it, even seemingly the medical staff. Its poor sportsmanship and I would be embarrassed if we did that.

I think he is more than good enough for the Premier League, but as we all know there are different tiers in the PL. He's not a top player at the moment, he's unlikely to be Chelsea's #1 striker this season or maybe even next. He is certainly good enough for the squads of an established PL team and he'd be a starter for a PL struggler. Wolves are a weird one. Their fans would like to think of them as an established PL force, they are going to win the CL quite soon, don't you know? In reality they're a PL fledgling. Remember when Wigan finished in the top half? Wolves are more of a career gamble than remaining at Villa for this season. They're not getting relegated this season, but he's not guaranteed to play every game, that Mexican striker they have (on loan I think) looks quite good to me. They're also not going to achieve what Chelsea could in the next few years. If he wants to play for Chelsea, then he needs to stay at Villa. I think he's better than Wolves, and I think he probably thinks he is too.

The best way to navigate the transfer window as a fan is to try to not get carried away with rumours one way or the other. Take them all with a pinch of salt. There used to be a saying on here ITSOTP -In The Shirt On The Pitch. Wait until then to get excited. (Although it would probably be ITSABMH now)

I really like Wednesday, I think Bruce will sure them up and get them playing effective turgid football. We know Bruce, he doesn't tend to take a job unless there is money to spend, but I don't expect him to sign any if our players, they'll be paid too well. Wednesday have a half decent squad so it wouldn't surprise me if they improved a bit.