praisedmambo

Thanks for taking what I said in good spirits. It is a credit even if we don't agree. Our squad is awful bar Grealish, Abraham, Tuanzebe, Chester of last season and...I'm struggling. Some of the others are passable but they definitely don't represent the best squad in the league. We've been playing three right backs for a few games, had one of the worst keepers I've ever seen until he did his achillies—we have to replace Grealish with BB or Whelan. I think there are plenty of better squads than ours in the league—squads with players on the up, not on the way down. We are saddled with dead wood on big wages—we can't shift these players if we wanted to, which makes that first bit in bold mind-blowing from my perspective! Of the two disastrous games, we have been missing in part or all three of Grealish, Abraham and Tuanzebe. Our bad form has come exactly when Tuanzebe and Grealish got injured. We were great with them and we're not without them. We over-rely on these players, which is not a sign of a good squad—and to further that, again, once Tuanzebe was injured we went with right backs everywhere. Our strongest team is good, but lose a few and the cracks quickly begin to show. I think the reason why I get so defensive is that this kind of context never seems to come near the thinking of those who seemed to have, yep, entrenched opinions against the manager from the off. I also get defensive, because we'll get nowhere if we keep changing manager. Of course we need to find the right one before we stick to them but who could we get that has managed a bigger club than Villa who is going to come down to the Championship. To me this is an answer that doesn't need answering for about another ten months, maybe more.

Here we go on the neverending merry-go-round that is Villatalk and Aston villa managers.

I was trying not to say that I thought it came across as the same old 'ignore any logic/context bs' and seemed a bit entrenched in lazy weirdly aggressive thinking. 'Enough of this he doesn't have his own players (paraphrased) '....comes across as someone who is ignoring the fact we have a shit squad and who is willing to judge the manager now. He's barely been here a few months...80% of it has been great but all of a sudden we lose a few and he's hopeless. This short memory thing is a classic feature of football fan moaning. In general the whole thing comes across as something entrenched...prejudiced. Facts don't matter or will be spun to satisfy the entrenched views. Something like that.

For balance, I disagree with mostly all of it. Seems a bit entrenched.

It's not as simple as that though. We did well with them all in the team before we lost Grealish and Tuanzebe. For me we need to sort the midfield out ASAP. We can't be relying on Hourihane to unlock defenses and we can't be relying on BB or Whealan to start attacks and set the pace. We need to get back to where we were when we had everyone fit. Hourihane as the deepest midfielder was OK when we were able to dominate and punish teams but I would love it if we replaced him with someone who has pace. Actually no I take that back about Hourihane being OK—I still remember those QPR or Preston goals where he let people ghost past him.

I really liked Tuanzebe personally. He's been our best defender this year. Sure he has his moments, but I think he'll be a decent Prem player in the long run.

We'd won one game I think before he came. Considering our PPG even after the recent shitty Christmas/New Year games is better than under Bruce, how are there more problems now in any other place than a biased mind? A mind from someone who keeps repeating the same things he said even before Smith had played a game, who keeps saying he thinks Smith needs time and yet never stops basically implying he's the wrong man. You had your mind made up before and do seem biased, which makes these posts predictable.

What a revision. Under Smith we've looked great...when we've had our best players available. Since then, in recent games less so. Context is everything.

There is no conspiracy. It's maths. We lost our best player (and Tuanzebe afterwards). From that moment on we have looked nothing as good. It is literally maths. We cannot replace a £25 million player with Glen Whealan or BB.

Man City lose one player and they start losing. I hope our owners are not so stupid and reactionary.

I agree. And it's conversations like this that seem to illuminate current politics. Edit. Imo.

Dare I say it what's up with Jedinak? Because we looked shit without him under Bruce and without Jack I can't deal with Whealan/BB.

Either which way that game was shit.

It's not a rumour that you would jump on such rumours.

I agree...he's been our best defender this year. He has the pace at least we lack with the current options and he was really good on the ball. Unlike our debutant today!

Love your logic. Presumably the manager would get a chance to buy his own players. If we're **** by ffp as we seem to have been for ages then maybe we need to reign in the expectation. Any new manager isn't going to magically give us a great squad.

Why didn't we win the league that year we had about five managers? Why are we not already great? (Aimed at Hippo)

All you've done is picked two teams when it's worked one time. You've ignored those teams when it hasn't, you've ignored the failures and you've ignored the teams when it's worked by sticking with a manager. No way on earth we need to be replacing the manager. Our team was shit before he came...we all agreed and it's still shit. Bar a few players. The best of which we're missing in two senses of the word (had some beers...basically we're obviously not the same without Jack) and another was one of our best defenders.

I don't think it's a right off. I think we can make the playoffs. But anyone saying the problem isn't losing Grealish is having a laugh. We've looked shit since he's gone and when you look at our midfield options it's not surprising. McGinn tried his best today but the others are non entities and they have mostly always been that way.

Stop with the puns. Edit: he's playing like a hause.

If there are no perfectly priced, available youngsters, we're OK with another loan though right? One of our best players this season is on loan—same last season. If we'd have gone up none of this flavour of the month anti-loan commentary would exist. Fine margins. IMO loans are fine, but they are obviously a short-term fix. I wouldn't turn my nose up at a decent CDM on loan for example if there are no perfect, mystical, young CDMs available this January. Why cut our nose to spite our face?

He started the previous three Premier League games—doesn't seem like someone they're trying to get rid of. I call yet another piece of newspaper bullshit.

Big news.

It's always so easy to just say 'it's for the money'. We said it about Milner, Delph, Young and so on—all of them became Premier League winners, managed to continue being England internationals and have generally done a lot for their careers. Wolves are a Premier League club—and a good one—that's enough motivation for him.

We're not getting Benteke. Why do people keep suggesting crazy things? We're also not getting Isco, Odoi, Mikel, and Wolves are a far-sight better than us at the moment and Tammy Abraham owes us nothing bar mutual respect and wellwishing.