PaddytheVillan

I predicted 0-3 before the game. Looks like it's going to be worse. We are the worst side in the league apart from Ipswich.

We're pretty rubbish. We couldn't create a chance against a crap Reading side, so I don't know why people think we have more of a chance against a far better side. Still no Grealish. 0-3.

I don't think Adomah worked hard today. He hardly broke a sweat. I can see why Bruce wanted to get rid of him in the summer. Green every time when fit.

Reading are the worst side we've played this season, lower league cup teams included. And we barely had a chance against them. We are nothing, nothing, nothing without Grealish. And even with him we are nothing above a midtable Championship side.

We won’t keep another clean sheet this season with this defence. 2-1 to Ipswich, two goals conceded from shite defending with their only chance, followed by frustration and time wasting.

Diabolical today, if possible worse than the last few weeks. Not worth £70k a week - get rid.

We've conceded 45 goals this season. Only teams to concede more? Rotherham with 46, and bottom club Ipswich with 48. It's so bleedingly obvious where our problems lie, it begs the question what is going on in Smith's mind. I know he inherited a joke of a defence from Bruce but seriously - we can't expect to have to score between 3 and 5 goals EVERY game to win a match. It's completely ludicrous. None of our back five is good enough at the moment. Put Steer in goal - he looks solid. Get Chester his surgery (it can't get worse without him), try and bed in Hause and Elphick (with Tuanzebe straight back in if he's ever fit again), and find better full backs from anywhere - even our young players would be a step up.

Bad result. Had to be a win. Abysmal first half once again. Bolasie, Taylor and Bjarnason in particular were abysmal. Better second half, but you can't expect a team to score 3 every game. Defence has to improve, right now I'm not sure one of the back 5 is good enough. Giving Chester some time off to fix his injury would be a start.

Absolutely must win. Anything other than that and we should be looking with concern at teams behind us, not in front. As well as that, we need a good performance. We haven't had one since West Brom. We need to figure out a way to play without Grealish - I personally wouldn't mind trying El Ghazi as no .10

Utterly humiliating performance so far. Completely outplayed by relegation fodder. We are extremely lucky to be only 1-0 down, and we haven't had a chance.

Well we all seemed to have decided it's nonsense, meanwhile the BBC are the latest media to run an article. Noting it doesn't say Chelsea want to sell yet, but also they might just want to cash in, especially with the Pulisic purchase and 20+ players out on loan and new rules coming in over the summer. If he does go we have to accept this is part of being in scintillating form for a mediocre team on loan, and hope Kodjia can step up. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46747906 Wolves are keen to sign striker Tammy Abraham from Chelsea. The 21-year-old is on loan at Championship side Aston Villa, where he has scored 16 goals this season. Wolves are exploring the possibility of exploiting a break clause in that deal to sign Abraham on a permanent basis. Chelsea are assessing a number of their players currently out on loan and are yet to decide whether to recall Abraham, which they would have to do for any transfer to proceed. Abraham joined Chelsea as a youth player, but is yet to start a match for the senior team. Villa could bid for the striker themselves, although it is understood that will not happen, with manager Dean Smith ready to cover Abraham's departure with existing forwards in his squad - Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan - should the need arise. Wolves are yet to make an offer for Abraham but their interest is genuine and they believe the player, who made two senior appearances for England in 2017, would welcome the opportunity to join a Premier League club after spending last season on loan at Swansea. Under Fifa rules, no player can play in official matches for more than two teams in one season but it is not thought Abraham's substitute appearance for Chelsea in this season's Community Shield will prevent him making the move as it is not regarded as an 'official game'.

Awful. QPR the biggest bunch of rocket polishers we've played all season. Hard to blame Tammy if he wants to move on from this.

A year or so ago I recently had shin splints diagnosed by a doctor - I was overweight and started running. It was more noticeable if I ran uphill. For me, it was a sore feeling on the muscle that comes down the outside of either shin. Painful, but by no means stopped me doing anything. But then again, I'm not a professional footballer. Why am I telling you this? I sadly suspect Jack's injury is worse. The Tesco Bags kicked him off the park, and he hasn't been seen since. I don't think a kicking like that would cause shin splints. I'm really concerned. Either way, would Sawyers be good enough cover? I doubt it. How about playing Adomah out wide and bringing El Ghazi through the middle?

Dropped the ball twice, including one hat trickled out and they hit the crossbar in the second minute. Made one very good save. Makes the defence nervy and is not good enough.

Still think Smith is the right man but we need to rotate, he is making a mistake as we looked knackered and subpar throughout. Elphick, Bjarnason, Adomah and Kodjia in for QPR.

Very poor. Bjarnason's miss was a shocker but let's not forget they hit the post twice and had the nutmegged shot over the line. We were lucky to scrape a draw. It was embarrassing when they kept on playing long balls through the middle that split our centre backs. Teams above us dropped points...the fact we can't capitalise tells you everything you need to know about our promotion chances.

Stat on the BBC: Since making his debut in January 2017, Conor Hourihane has been directly involved in more league goals (27) than any other Villa player (16 goals, 11 assists). Fantastic player, and as has been said offers something different to McGinn and Grealish. The best midfield trio in the Championship sit in front of possibly the worst defence.

People really want Kodjia to leave? That's crazy. If you want someone who runs around and tries we have Hogan, if you want someone who has quality and will help us push for the PL we have Kodjia. He needs to work on his tracking back but frankly he's no worse at that than El Ghazi who's built like a feather and can't put in a tackle. At this level you don't get players who are the complete package; if they were then they'd be in the Premier League - Tammy will be come next season. We won't get anyone better so let's make the most of his talent, keep him happy and make him central to our play off aims.

CB x 2 LB CAM (purely so if Grealish is injured/sold his cover isn't Whelan)

I thought Kodjia played well today. We need to keep him happy and motivated as there's a good chance we will lose Tammy and he will become our one and only quality striker. We can't rely on Davies or Hogan FFS.

The defence Bruce has left us with is to blame. Hutton is no left back and Elmo is no defender, he's cost us yet again. We miss Grealish and will be destroyed if we lose Tammy in Jan. Leeds area several levels ahead of us and our best hope is to push for the play offs. We were lucky to go in 2-0 up and they should have had a penalty and wrapped it up. Chin up - we won't play many teams this good.

De Gea was 21...just saying. But your point is valid. I went through and quickly added up the points he's single handedly cost us this season. I think his errors have taken 4 wins and one draw from us - so 10 points. Enough to be in 2nd. And these mistakes vary from missing crosses, dropping the ball, diving the wrong way and getting beaten by a daisy cutter at your near post. A really diverse group of ways to be an absolute mess. Any keeper who has some Championship or PL experience would be better. Heaton would be ideal, failing that I think there are very few who could be worse.

Should've had the game out of sight so the ref can't feck it up for us - Tammy to blame on this occasion for a series of misses. Shocking from Nyland to drop it - shocking from the ref and his team not to see the two handballs, including the one that pushes the ball in and clearly diverts its path. Rodriguez is a racist scumbag Still - another excellent display, we were by far and away the better side. They're several points ahead of us now, but based on that can't see it lasting for long. UTV.

Bruce came in and steadied a sinking ship. Most sensible fans can agree on that. Beyond that, he didn't achieve anything of note. An overpaid, old squad, where he banked everything, almost including the club's entire existence, on beating a team who were eminently better than us (Fulham) by trying to bore them off the park. With the amount he spent and the players he inherited (Grealish, Chester, Kodjia etc), we should have been promoted in 2nd last season, behind Wolves. Wwe should have comfortably finished ahead of Fulham and Cardiff. But he couldn't out-Cardiff Cardiff (with their defensive football and almost unbelieveable run of 1-0s) or get close to Fulham (with their positive, attacking brand of football). I wanted him to stay over the summer because with the Xia mess I thought we'd be in a relegation battle, and once again he could steady the ship and keep us afloat for another year. But every performance this season was poor, even the handful of wins we had were fortunate. The long and short of it is Bruce didn't have an identity for his side. He built his teams around players he got on well with and liked coaching, but his team never had style. What were we? Were we a long ball team? Probably not even that. What was the point in signing players like Lansbury, Hourihane and Hogan when they would never in a million years fit into the kind of team he played. There was a reason he would always sign Elmohamady and there was a reason Elmo would always get the most touches each match under Bruce. It's because he is a hard working, likeable, competent professional who has a good cross. But not ever one to build a system around (if you can even call it that). Smith has come in and already we have a style. The crap defence is going to be an issue, I suspect even after January. Nyland has probably cost us 10 goals this season already solely down to individual errors, which is utterly unacceptable and frankly baffling. But for me Smith'a style is changing the culture of the team, on and off the pitch. And this is a clear long-term vision that Bruce never had - we aren't just trying to buy the league and throwing on 5 strikers when we are a goal down (which is a metaphor for Bruce's time, as well as his frequent tactic). I'm a fickle fan, no doubt I'll say things against Smith in the heat of the moment when the chips are down. But we have to back him, and back him long term. I certainly will be.

It's easy to say this after a couple of fantastic results, and I'll admit I'm fickle and sometimes let me emotions guide my comments. But Smith has shown early signs of being the real deal. Very early days I know. But it's not just the results, it's the way he has us playing - the imbalanced squad he inherited has an average defence and a fantastic attack. In just over a month he has revolutionised how we play. Conor sitting deep and moving the ball quickly, switching the play & overloading the wings. Kodjia, Tammy and Adomah rotating around the front 3 causing havoc to mark. Grealish actually not being forced to pick up the ball in the middle of his own half. Wingers encouraged to bomb forward - I'm not a fan of Taylor but he is playing well for the first time in a long while. And today was without arguably our best player this season McGinn. Even bloody Nyland looks better although I would still hope we look for a new GK in Jan. Can't wait until Dean can get some of his own men in. Easy to say now, I know, but if we don't go up this season he has to be given another full season. We need to back Smith all the way - this could be the start of something big. He could be a our Nuno, or even better. I've not felt this positive about a manager in the era since O'Neill. UTV