Philosopher

It's why I'd like a quality playmaking defensive midfielder, a left back, and another creative type winger. Could also do with another fast striker, but we have Louie B coming through, so I'd be OK with him filling in as 3rd or 4th choice striker.

Yeah I agree. I think the transfer fee won't be more than 30m with probably 10m of that performance related add ons. Probably less if he gets injured a couple more times. The problem with a Barkley deal is the player himself. He wants to be in the champs league. He will want to bide his time as if things go well any move will become more lucrative and if things go badly he still has a fat Chelsea deal. He can't really lose out. Also Everton are on the rise and he may be hoping to go back there.

If this is about Rob Mckenzie then he was signed up before Shakespeare.

To me a defensive midfielder these days needs to be more than a defender in midfield. They are either a postionally disciplined sitter with excellent passing range, or a hard working, tenacious tackler that can carry the ball with good short passing. Or a combination of the two. Let's agree we are mostly lining up with two defensive midfielders. We can only do this, and play the way we do because at least one of them is adept with the ball at their feet. Obviously this works better if that is the case for both.

I would really love us to buy a quality defensive midfielder (for me, we look thinnest at left back, and then central midfield). Then some of similar quality to Jack for our right hand side in the summer. Left back at any time, but that Lowe kid looks promising, needs a couple of seasons though. An injury to Doug or Mcginn and we have Nakamba becoming a regular, not ideal! A lot of people are righting off Big Wes, but I see a player there. He is a really composed finisher, once he is sharp and fully adapted, he will be a very good option particularly if teams decide to park the bus.

Don't understand how ward is still on the pitch.

Everyone bar Mings has been excellent. A proper team effort.

Hause is imperious. El Ghazi is looking a premier league player. Wtf is going on!

If you know he's not going use his right foot it certainly makes him easier to predict. I didn't day he was predictable. As for speed he is certainly not the speedster I was expecting.

Well I see Baggies and Burnley as two of the worst teams in this league. They are terrible. His goal threat has amounted to 2 penalties won by others and a good tap in. Baggies were bad before now they have the wrong manager! Burnley are only a threat if you make stupid mistakes or can't defend aerial balls. Deal with that and you have them over a barrel. The chances he missed remind me of Trezguet at his worst. However Trezguet's workrate and commitment to the team is far more reliable than El-Ghazi occasional moments. He still isn't good enough. Still has to do more to convince that he is even worth a place in the squad after this season.

He is so hungry for goals. So grumpy when he doesn't score. Works his socks off and his movement is excellent. Going to be a top prem striker so long as he stays clear of injury.

He one footedness is a bit of an issue as it makes him more predictable. However if you're good enough you can overcome it. However he is no Maradona or even a Robben. I heard Traore was quick, but he doesn't look so quick to me. Robben however was greased lightning. One thing I do like about Traore is that he seems like a clever player, with good awareness. Time will tell, but not yet convinced.

El-ghazi has not done enough to start ahead of Trezguet and Traore. Two penalties and a tap in, and a host of missed chances. Greahish did everything he could to get him a goal against Burnley and he flopped it. Credit to him though for the opener last night. I would still sell him at the first opportunity as I don't believe he is good enough for where we want to be. Not having the pressure of a relegation battle seems to be helping him. He is also great mates with Jack. Need Trezguet and Barkley back.

Lots of people on here seem to hate on Hause. I don’t really get it. He always looks solid defensively. He is just lacking on the ball. As a 3rd choice defender he is a useful option. Quick, strong, imperious in the air. Good in the tackle also. He seems to be moving the ball quicker and keep it simpler in possession in the last two games and has done much wrong. People saying he should've been sent off are wrong. Mings needless yellow I found more offensive than that.

El Ghazi has done well from the penalty spot and put in a good finish which was an awkward tap in. However he still leaves a lot to be desired. Traore was way better than him tonight. If think the Burnley game epitomises him. West Brom are rubbish a good championship team. Not a premier league team. So we did what should be expected of us. Traore needs to play well against a good prem teams, to convince me. Tbh though both El Ghazi and Traore look more like back up level quality to me. El Ghazi my not even be that good.

Considering we never really looked threatening, to win is lovely. Far too card happy at least half those cards shouldn't have been given. Should've had 2 penalties. Ramsey played well, didn't look out of place. We competed well in midfield, but we weren't calm enough in defence and just couldn't find any decent final balls in attack.

Seems to me we haven't fully developed the mentality we need to succeed in this division. Switching off is still an issue, particularly when we don't have a big established side to get the lads blood boiling. For me this is at least partially a management issue. Smith got his team selection slightly wrong in picking Hourihane, set pieces was always going to be difficult to exploit against a huge West ham team, and Conor was very average otherwise. I said it in the pre match thread we had to keep West ham out of our defensive third and not give away set pieces and they scored from a set piece in 2 minutes, and always looked dangerous from them. For all our domination we only created 5 decent chances, one was our goal, one was the penalty and one was the disallowed goal. So take away the disallowed goal, and the one we did score and that leaves 3. The penalty should have been scored. However the Trezguet chance was awkward as the ball was slightly behind him which is always a tricky one to direct. I would say analysing the chances we should have got a draw. Looking at the dominance we should have battered them. For me with Conor and Trez in the other 2 of 3 creative positions that leaves you relying on Jack to create from open play. Smith was too slow with his subs. It was clear Trez was having a stinker and Conor simply wasn't dynamic enough or creative enough. He could have changed things ⁸at least 10 minutes earlier than he did. This isn't the first time his tactics have cost us. However his tactics were also behind fine wins against Liverpool, Leicester, and Arsenal. Smith is not the problem I agree. But he is human and makes mistakes. I'm still not convinced he is the man to break us into the champions league. However he is building nicely and has fostered a progressive, nurturing, and hard working environment at the club, which will undoubtedly provide a strong foundation for Aston Villa in the next few years. I want him to succeed and lead us to glory and he deserves the chance to. Done good he has so far. I'm not sold on his ability to do that though. Only time will tell.

I'm not convinced. The ball was in that borderline area where if you go and miss it they score, if you leave it you may need to pull off a worldie. Difficult to criticise really.

Simple!

Wrong team selection. Getting caught cold again twice in one match. Poor defending. Somehow still did enough to win the game, but still lost.

Balls!!!!!

Get in

El-ghazi is rubbish

Oh dear AEG is coming on!

Today hopefully