MarkLillis

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/west-bromwich-albion/jugendarbeit/verein/984 Some fairly decent names in there, not world beaters though.

I think by mugged off he means that as fans you have accepted the buy to sell line rather easily. Of course you do because “it’s for the good of the club” but making the amount of profit you mention is very impressive are you sure it all goes back into the club?

Big Ron did something similar in 91/92. He built a great team with only a few poor signings (Paul Mortimer for one),although with some of the names he got in they were almost certain to succeed to be fair.

Have say I would like them to get it right.They have a long suffering fan base (3 of which I had a chat with at a pub in Westminster before Monday’s game - they were down in the dumps!) They suffer like I can imagine us suffering I always count Villas blessings when I see Sunderlands struggles.

The truth is Villa adopting this song is more real than most people imagine.It is not contrived, it wasn’t thought up or given to us by anyone..... In that moment after the win a Reading we took it and made it our own. I look forward to singing it at the Champions League final one day

I have to say the fact we got relegated got me off my backside and back down to Villa Park as a season ticket holder. The situation as I saw it was I need to be there when we get back...what kind of fan was I if I didn’t fully back us week in week out.I felt Villa needed the support. What a ride it was ,ending in one of my best days out watching Villa on Monday. To the Championship,I thank you for the experience.I think Villa are now stronger for spell we spent as your guests. Please don’t be offended if we aren’t back anytime soon though

They thought it would last forever.They had their time but for now they are going to have to be a bit more humble. we know what they are

Anyone think that Mark Albrighton might return? At 30 he may just have the right balance of experience and fitness that we need.Seeing as he spends his days off from Leicester watching from the Holte End it could be an easy sell

It’s not often we go into a Wembley final against a team that finished below us in the league either. See above all games against top four premier sides.....then last year we played the most in form team in the division to top it off. If we could have picked our opponents 9/10 Villa fans we have picked Derby!

I think that the difficulty finding space to play over the two legs was a lot to do with the Baggies approached the game.We did run down a lot of blind alleys and there were quite a few potshots from outside the area also.Im not sure it was the form of the players generally dropping though, because they had to play well in a different kind of way and was to do with the level of performance of the opposition. It would be nice to take the lead in the final this time even if it’s against the run of play. As we have seen a goal Can galvanise a team a lead to an overall improvement over the 90 minutes.UTV

Baggies fans fuming...Mr Tumble they call him. I though it was a very good performance by them. They know they cant take us on at football so they use other means and it very nearly worked. But their fans are so obsessed with us, it affects their judgement!

We were passing along the edge of the box during the majority of our attacks. One of those passes would fall to Whelan who would take a touch and spread it out wide. It was a pattern of play the West Brom were very used too...and comfortable defending. Id argue that this is why Hourihane had so much space for the goal. If....and its a big if, this entered Dean Smiths thought pattern when he made the substitution then it was a very smart move!

There are not many opposition fans who think highly of Jack. They almost without exception think that he "dives, goes down easily etc. etc." As fans and players of the opposition get more and more wound up (like yesterday!) I find myself watching the game and saying to myself " well just stop kicking him then " but of course they cant as they need to stop him playing. Its catch 22 and I'm glad he is on our side!

Chester will be comfortable alongside Ming's. He is happier when he has a more vocal player alongside him. I know he was playing for a while whilst injured but I do think that part of his problems this season were that he had to take on Terry's role.

Agreed.He was just immense!

Whichever way you look at it,Dean Smiths results with a (more or less) full squad available are more than enough for a top six finish. There are 7 games to go and it looks like the turnaround in form is here to stay. Does anyone think his persistence with playing a style suited to Jack Grealish.....even though he wasn’t on the pitch,has helped the team click now that he is back?

I’m not working with any noses. What is their view? How are they reacting? In my experience yesterday a new low for them....but also in my experience what Villa fans see as a low they see as an achievement....

So....35000+ fro a home game on a Friday night live on SKY. Full house against the Baggies and another 35000 plus attendance due Saturday. All this during one of our worst runs of results in recent memory. But talk to a Blues or Baggies fans and........"Villa fans need to realise they are not a big club anymore!" Their lack of awareness for basic facts is amazing....

I think we have to accept it is a tough league and we only a mid table side in it. Of course we shouldn’t accept the poor performances which are putting us there...or should we because our job is to support through good and bad times? Is that the issue here? We have a poor squad of players and we know that performances aren’t going to be pretty...but yet we still get upset. so should we be upset or shouldn’t we? Its all too confusing

Interesting! I have always though of them as a provincial club that had occasional periods of success...but try voicing that opinion and most football fans will say how much of a big club they are!

There is still a lot of football left to play this season. But we have created a situation where we have to play like champions to get 6th place Whilst I wont rule out a change in form when our injury's start to clear up. I am now more interested in seeing some evidence of a more long term plan. I think this will Saturday will be interesting at Stoke because we go in without Jack Grealish or John McGinn. I wonder what the plan is?

The ONLY thing that will fix the problems is better results on the pitch. The fans can not get on the pitch and play so it has to come from Dean Smith and the players. I could go something like this..... 1.Players show commitment and small improvements to all round game but results are still bad =most fans will notice this and have some hope therefore a better atmosphere 2.The improved commitment and better performances mean slightly better results = even more fans notice the improvement and now fans have real hope and there is louder atmosphere with anticipation in the air. 3. Players are confident playing well and getting results - full houses,loud proud support and the kind of Nirvana that some fans in this thread think should be a given! Please tell me how else this can happen?

I was thinking about the treatment he got from us...the supporters!

We have got to tough this one out. I don’t know if Dean Smith is the man for the job,how can anybody yet? Of course it looks bad now and the fact that we have not reacted to the loss of Jack in any obvious(to me...) way has sown the first seeds of doubt in my mind. We should haves started to rebuild when we went down,now it’s upto Dean and I hope he’s not treated like Paul Lambert was!

I agree, he seems to be a very good judge of a player and how they fit into his team. Norwich are impressive as a whole, not sure about the same players if they were scattered around at different clubs though? This type of team building works well at the lower levels I think. In a similar way to Wagner at Huddersfield, the premier league may well be his undoing...