Indigo

Remember when people were wanting him dropped? That clearly would've gone well... Bit worrying there doesn't really seem to be any official diagnosis on his injury, hopefully that means that it is just a case of him having to rest up for a bit rather than something more nefarious. Seems like the Hull game might be the aim for his return?

It's been mentioned already but think it really does need putting in perspective how well Smith has done since he's come in, and how promising it looks if we can get a little bit of luck for the remainder of the season. The teams in red are who we played when Bruce was manager, the green being since Smith has taken over. Automatics are very ambitious I think, as regardless of how well we do, it's more the amount of teams we'd have to overtake and Leeds, Norwich and WBA are all very strong, while if through nothing else but sheer pragmatism Boro will be up there. However at this point I'd be very surprised not to see us looking strong for the play-offs come the end of the season. Hopefully a bit of fortune with injuries, a couple of necessary additions, and more time for Smith & co to further implement their methods are all to come. Villa have thought me more than enough times down the years to never be too confident, but it speaks to the job Smith has done thus far that I'm - perhaps naively - ignoring it all over again.

Another thing this highlights is how much of a loss Tuanzebe is. His ability to carry the ball out from the back and start attacks could make up for the likes of Whelan not being able to piece things together but instead we've been even more turgid than we otherwise would have been. Honestly a bit surprised Bree hasn't offered more in that sense considering in theory he should be more comfortable on the ball.

Played our way back into this, El Ghazi and Bolasie have found a bit of rhythm finally so it's not just Tammy trying to do everything by himself. Everything behind them is still a problem though, outside of McGinn's energy the movement is so lethargic.

If Jack was playing we'd have someone in midfield willing to/capable of offering an outlet and running the midfield. We don't have another player like him that can offer what he does and dictate the way we play.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle with Hourihane so it's easy to see why he splits opinion. You can't really argue with his numbers, and with him in the team it's just a fact that we're far more likely to score than if he weren't, but at the same time the game really can pass him by for long periods and because of the quite pivotal position he plays in that can be conversely detrimental. Yesterday was a perfect example - starts the game on fire with an assist and a goal, but then disappeared into his shell a bit, when you're at the game it becomes especially noticeable that it's been about half an hour and you can't remember the last time he touched the ball. Not just because it involves Grealish being in the team also, but I think we and him are better when he plays in that deeper role, it forces him to get on the ball more and I think even if we sacrifice a bit of his goal threat further up the pitch we tick along much better as a team in possession.

Hutton just isn't better than Taylor at left back. I know we don't rate Taylor and God loves a trier but Hutton isn't a better option. Taylor simply through being left footed alone is a better option as Hutton being shoehorned there completely disrupts the balance. And he's also absolutely garbage.

Shit again as always. Can't wait for him to be shit but "give 100%" again next time and for that to be good enough for us.

Imagine still defending this guy and still thinking he'll come good. **** gifted a whole half of the pitch to go through one and one and bottled it. Good luck.

A compilation video for a goalkeeper is only really going to be focusing on eye-catching saves to be fair, not sure there's much of an audience for a video based around a keeper's general stewardship of his area. Anyway, happy with this signing. Can't say I've seen much of him but he's a goalkeeper and he's not Nyland so until he proves otherwise this is fantastic news.

Heaton and a decent left back are all we really need assuming we're going to sign Collins/bring Elphick back, anything else would just be a bonus in my opinion. Don't particularly rate either of those two, but considering Tuanzebe/Chester is our first choice pairing I think Collins and Elphick are perfectly serviceable as back up options that will hopefully not have to play too much. Nyland just can't be trusted, even when he has a good game he's never far off a disaster, and evidently the two keepers we have in reserve can't be trusted enough for him to be dropped so that needs sorting. Taylor is playing fine but he can be improved on, and on top of that he's our only left back so signing one is a no-brainer really. I don't think it's imperative that we get in a DM, but obviously if Conor/Thor can be improved upon I won't be complaining. Ideally we'd have a ball-playing yet defensively capable player for that position but it's a very specialist role that's hard to fit the perfect player for at this level really. Apart from that we're well-stocked elsewhere.

He was great the other night, hasn't been mentioned enough here. Think he's been the recipient of some harsh criticism recently, he's just not a specialist defensive player and we're going to have to accept that we're going to be more vulnerable with him there in exchange for being better going forward. He puts an effort in but it's obviously not his game, so it's strange to see him cop so much flak when there were so many calling for a midfield three of him, Jack and McGinn, surely what's happened is what you'd expect from that?

I actually look forward to and love watching Villa again

Have to say fair balls to Hutton. I've been critical of him and still would be as one goal doesn't suddenly make me rate him as a player overall, but that goal was something else and he's created a moment in time which is something that many players better than him haven't been able to do over the years. Definitely a special moment.

As much as we were completely let off the hook with that Adams miss, in retrospect their (opening) goal turned out to be a positive as it brought us to life I think. We were very stodgy on the ball and that sparked an urgency where we started looking for the ball in between the lines a bit earlier and exploiting the space quicker (e.g. Hourihane shifting out to Hutton for Kodjia's goal). Thought we saw the good and bad of Whelan in the first half but the reality is he's always going to hinder us in possession and the improvement was notable when he went off. He looks composed when he's given acres of space, but anytime he's put under any kind of pressure you really see his limitations. We lack any kind of aerial presence, and Nyland gets homesick once he leaves his line, so aside from always being vulnerable in that sense we're really coming along game by game. Can only credit Smith for the impact he's made. I don't know where we're going to end up this season, but if nothing else I'm enjoying the ride so far, and it's not often I've been able to say that about Villa so I'll happily take it.

That's worth far more than £40 million.

Next we'll be merely mentioning Samuel Saiz, the blasphemy of it all.

...welp

He's just not a left winger imo, I find it weird that people seemed to think he'd be better out there than through the middle when he had previously been great for us as a striker and there wasn't much evidence of him having played elsewhere. He's a mercurial player but he's also great physically in terms of being able to hold it up, as much as he can be frustrating he has all the elements of being a good striker when he's on song. You lose a lot of that from him when he's stuck out wide, particularly because he's not a natural creator of chances for others and that's what you'd primarily be expecting of someone playing there. Playing someone out of position isn't conducive to getting them back in form. Tammy's great and I don't think I'd swap him for anyone else in the league, so even though Kodjia is probably too good to be a back-up striker in the Championship I think that's what he should be for the time being if we're playing this formation. Especially when Bolasie is actually able to start games. From a selfish point of view it gives us better options off the bench too.

I don't think a select few people who presumably haven't rated him for a long time (can only speak for myself but I haven't) expressing so is indicative of a fickle bunch of fans. Presumably the same people that have always thought he was good still do so, considering there's posts in here from the past few days praising him. In fact there's people that to this day think he's our best right and left back. I personally wholeheartedly disagree but c'est la vie.

It speaks to how bad we've been and how low our collective expectations have gradually become that Hutton has been consistently playing for us for so many years and it's been largely accepted. I usually try to avoid being critical of players but he's one of few I have to make the exception for, he honestly holds us back and the fact that the only positive that can be attributed to a player playing for a club of our size is that "he gives his all" probably says that he shouldn't actually be playing for us (and even then, there are examples down the years where I'd suggest he in fact hasn't given his all. There was a pretty cowardly red card vs Chelsea in the season we went down that comes to mind). Only echoing what Trent says but our right side is openly targeted by other teams because he can't defend, and all he offers going forward is physically getting forward without producing anything outside of the odd anomaly. Needs to be one of the first replaced for us to kick on imo, it's important we have full backs that can 1) defend competently and 2) receive the ball on the move and be comfortable on it under how Smith wants us to play and Hutton definitely doesn't provide that.

Thought he was MOTM tonight personally, didn't put a foot wrong and is improving with every game. Outside of not being particularly strong in the air he looks a real all-rounder at this level. Not only does it make Bruce's stubbornness in persevering with him at right back look increasingly bizarre as has been said above, but it also shows how harsh some fans were to almost completely write him off based off a few games where he was shoe-horned into a position he clearly wasn't comfortable playing in.

Imagine how many we would have won by had he been dropped.?️

How anyone can claim to not notice the quite demonstrably different manner of playing Smith is trying to implement is beyond me. That's not to say it's being done well or successfully, but it's inarguable that there's more of an emphasis on passing it out from the back and pressing higher/more aggressively. For what it's worth I don't think we're too far off, but the players that hold us back really hold us back, and I don't think you can get away with trying to play like this when only maybe half the team are capable of it. Hutton is dreadful, Elmo is a solid player but not dynamic enough as a winger, Taylor is mediocre etc, these players are meant to be outlets/dynamic/capable of carrying the ball but it's too static and if anything hinders the likes of Jack. I think we'll get there eventually, and even with the players we have now we'll still push on once Smith has more time to work with them, but it'll be very difficult be muster a meaningful promotion push if we can't swap some players out for more capable replacements.