Darth Villa

It is time to ask Purslow about the future of Smith.....

Steaming turd of a performance! We will only survive IF others do us a favour as this team is not PL standard..

We are down and out...that is all..

He's clearly building up fitness and is somewhat rusty but when fit I'd have no concerns about him starting alongside nakamba for a couple of simple reasons. He's been in a relegation scrap before and brings another voice to help organise those who are new to the battle and league. This is what we need to compete in games, with the technically more gifted players (luiz) coming in once the game has progressed to a point they'll get the time and space to have an impact. Not rocket science, almost common sense and gives me confidence that we're starting to truly find our feet in this league. He's our midfield Mings..,just not quite match fit, yet...

When I read the description of how he plays, and his general demeanor (always smiling), I can't help but draw comparison with Dwight Yorke at his peak for us. Even if he's only half as good then surely he'll have a fantastic impact on the team? Or am I just clutching at straw's like everyone else on VT?

I don't like it but logically a defeat to Man City shouldn't be a surprise. What I cannot stand is the spineless, weak, soft touch "nice bunch of lads" mentality. It's 11 men versus 11 men, they may be better players technically but why do we never make them work for it, never see crunching tackles or any type of physical presence on the pitch. We cannot put boys out to face men in this league or our tenure will be very short lived. Suso and Smith, sort out the squad or we're nailed on certainties for relegation. Grealish can't do it all on his own and even he's beginning to look hacked off with the situation and if he stops trying then we're well and truly screwed.

This seems to confirm our worst fears...

Yeap, seen photo's on the Wesley thread and the tackle looks horrific. VAR failing again to spot what looks a clear red card but either way we will be incredibly lucky if we see him before next season...it can only happen the Villa!

Can anyone confirm this claim about ACL injuries to both players?

This sort of formation was seen as a viable option when all the new player's came in over the summer, let's hope it at least produces a battling performance today. If I see any midfielder jogging back I'm expecting them to get a rollocking off either of Mings or Grealish and that's what we'll need today - 100% commitment, playing for the manager and shirt. If we don't get that then the speculation over Smith and his future will only increase and I don't think that will help us in our continuing relegation battle.

@mikeyp102, @M_Afro, @dudevillaisnice, you all make fair points, what I was trying to get at was why are we indirectly publishing articles that hint at discord in the camp, between Suso and Smith at the point when we need everyone pulling together for today's game against Burnley? It does highlight that not all is well behind the scenes and that the coaching staff seem to have the same concerns as many of us fans I.e. the wingers are poor, midfield struggling and Wesley just isn't inspiring confidence. I'm not pro or anti Smith or Suso, I just want to see things sorted out and some decent player's coming in this month who will make a difference on the pitch rather than perpetuating any infighting behind the scenes. Happy New Year Villans one and all..

Telegraph article seems to be shifting the blame from Smith to Suso, it does read like Paddy Riley Mk2 with regards to pushing for signings that Smith gave the nod to but wasn't completely convinced with Wesley being the biggest example of Suso getting his own way and Smith ending up with poor players. When are we going to stop carrying on like this?

Our set piece play is I believe the worst in the league? No idea why but we can't score from them and we've conceded more from set play than any other team. I get the feeling crossing is only the start of our problems. Good to get it all out I guess, so we can start afresh in the New Year!

Looking at the YouTube that @lexicon posted, he looks left footed and that's made me wonder if Mings is more injured than we've been told or does this mean we'll look to move Hause to left back to cover Targett? Either way, we need leaders and this bloke fits that mould so let's hope we have an equivalent striker coming in with him...

So how many on this thread would trust Dmith and Suso in the January window to bring in the 2 or 3 @VillaChris has reasonably suggested we'd need to arrest this slump? Again, a sensible point from @Eastieas since Leicester (ironically, Brendan Roger's Leicester) everyone else seems to have figured out how to exploit the gaps we leave in midfield and out wide for them due to our formation / the attacking ethos of Smith. So my question is, if our system has been sussed and we're short of the right type/quality of player then doesn't our Director of Football need to be held accountable to as surely he offers advice to the coaches beyond player recruitment? What I'm getting at is I've read some sensible suggestions about alternative managers and arguments for keeping Smith but I want to know what else should be done to break this cycle?

It's easy to want a change of manager, I'm leaning towards that view myself BUT now I've calmed down a bit....I would much rather have an answer to the one key question. Why,specifically do we find ourselves back in this position after half a season? We have new owners, new coaches, new recruitment team and new players BUT we're back to looking gutless, disjointed and without stomach for the relegation battle we're now in. Happened with Lambert, Sherwood, Bruce and now Smith. If the definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same actions whilst expecting a different outcome then it's no wonder we're collectively going nuts! I'd really like to hear from the club, from Purslow, or anyone else in authority to get their perspective on this. Just what is the plan to tackle our apparent tailslide back to the Championship, beyond potentially changing the "Head Coach"?

Smith was known for going on a series of winning or losing runs at Brentford and for conceding a lot of goals. That trend has followed him to Villa Park. Watford showed fight and desire as did Southampton. Troy Deeney knew he could be pivatol today because he simply wanted it more. Since we lost to Leicester our head's drop too easily and something feel's wrong. Smith either gets us on winning run now or he has to go. It's not rocket science, neither is it an overreaction, it's just what needs to happen.

just sh!t..

Didn't expect a classic today and wasn't surprised by the poor performance but we got the three points and that's all that matters. Heaton kept us in it, Hause was much improved and Hourihan proved again he has the hoodoo over Norwich. Grealish superb and referee negligent again with regards to protecting him. Wesley did a lot more today in terms of work rate and I do feel sorry for him but he still doesn't look like scoring in a month of Sundays. Mitrovic please...

That's the key thing though @Robtaylor200, we've assembled this "competitive" squad and we're all worried (well at least you and me are) about playing Norwich having tanked against Southampton. Surely we either have to accept we're not really up to scratch yet and need more players in Jan or we're going through our bad patch? We could point fingers at DS/JT but I'm reluctant to do that at present as it feels like we'd be going down the same old sack the manager track and I'm personally not convinced that's the answer...

Big test for us, individuals need to step up and show passion, in a professional manner with DS and JT showing they do coach effectively during the week and are the right people to be leading our club into 2020. I'd like to think we won't see a repeat of the Southampton performance but as @OutByEaster? and @markavfc40 stated it all feels like it hinges on who gets the first goal. If he plays today, I fancy Hourihan to net even though he's been anonymous of late and infuriates me! Bit worried to be honest but we can't expect to return into the Premier League from what was effectively 5th place in the championship without going through these sort of periods. Let's hope we can all keep perspective regardless of a win, draw or even if the unthinkable lose result is what comes out of today.

If only we had a forward line...not an awful performance but it shows what a loss Tammy was... so damn frustrating!

We played well, every player put in a shift, we're still learning and improving. Think back to the team we had 12 months ago and dream about where we could be 12 months from now. Trezeguet was tireless, El Ghazi had arguably his best game for us (bar the failure to track back for their equaliser) Mingles were both colossal and SJM's arse roll was in full effect. Yes it's frustrating to have dropped points (again) but were competing against the very best teams in Europe. That's the key, we're back and competing, not floundering, not collapsing. Marvel at the progress, drink to forget the scoreline (only within your limits) and celebrate that at least we didn't get fu**ed by VAR today!

If you look at the replay it's a bit of a comedy of errors. Poor pass back from Mings, slow reaction from Heaton and then the random factor - the sun was glaring at the time and likely caused both players to misjudge the pass and hesitate just enough to allow the whole mess to happen... I think Heaton's a solid Premier level player, we're collectively prone to mistakes though and at 5 nil up both him and mings were too casual. One for JT to address at BMH...but nothing to lose sleep over I would suggest..

Elation, frustration, desolation - pretty much sums us up. It is too early to be despondent as we will improve and we are competitive albeit naïve too when it comes to seeing games out but why oh why do we seem to be playing against VAR every single game...and WTF does an opposition player have to do to get booked, punch SJM in the head?