OxfordVillan

It’s all mostly opinion, of course, but I’m relaxed about whoever Dean Smith brings in. For me I’d have Maupay over Tammy. I think Maupay has that bit more ruthlessness about him and is clearly equally good at getting goals. A young lad who has come to another country and made it, you can’t underestimate the extra maturity and drive required for that. £20m for a 22yr old striker with his record? I’d snap your arm off. Absolutely wish Tammy well with his ambitions and can’t fault his time at VP. But if there’s one thing we should have learnt from previous years, it’s not to be too sentimental. Professionalism has to rule.

If that kid has moved for £13m from Bristol to Bournemouth, then Mings is a £15-20m CB. Remember that Mepham also moved from Brentford for around the £12m mark. Id rate Mings above both aforementioned CBs.

We’ve options on ElGhazi and Hause, only an “equivalence” type agreement on Mings. Unless Tuanzebe kicks up a fuss and states he wants to move then he’ll be back at ManUtd next season, unfortunately. We need to secure Mings, Hause, and ElGhazi ASAP and then move on to new signings. I honestly think we’ll move for Maupay, he’s the right age and has, arguably, been slightly more effective in a lesser team than Tammy. There’s potential left in Maupay and also good resale value for a number of years. Same with Tammy but I think Maupay will be easier to secure and a good bit less expensive. Though we have wealthy owners I don’t think we’ll see silly money being thrown around, it’ll be measured signings that are sensible business in both the the shorter and long term. And that’s why I also think we could see Barbet coming in on a free. Right age with potential still there, decent resale value, one of the leagues better CBs. There might be the odd splurge for a bit of stardust if the opportunity arises. LB, CDM, RW, LW, STR are all positions we need to strengthen. I honestly wouldn’t be looking for a GK this window, Jed has the shirt now and there’s Kalinic in reserve. This summer will be a whole lot more interesting than it might have been!

Agreed. It’s a case of us winning the individual battles, and if we do that we should go on to win the game. You’d like to think that Mings & Tuanzebe can prevail against Marriott, and ElGhazi could give Cole a hard time. Grealish and McGinn you’d hope will win the midfield against Mount and Co. Tammy can give their CBs a hard time too.

When teams set up against us to put numbers on Grealish, that’s when I’d like to think we could be brave enough to go with 3 at the back to release an extra midfielder or forward. We have to find a way of making advantage elsewhere when teams commit 2 or 3 players on Grealish, or McGinn. WBA smothered the areas those 2 work in and we were found wanting. Crosses into the box weren’t enough and not good enough. We should have gone 3-5-2 with Kodjia alongside Tammy. There was practically no threat to us at the back.

We simply need to start fast, and Glenn Whelan has to start. Should we be behind in the 2nd half then that would be Conor’s time. If we cut out the silly defensive mistakes that we saw in the WBA games then we should see a much improved performance. If Mings & Tuanzebe show the calmness and certainty that we know they have, we’ll be fine. I do think that Marriott will be tasked with trying to replicate Dwight Gayles performance against us, minus the sending off. I feel certain that Derby have to really pressure our CBs and not allow them to bring it out.

Exactly this The season was dead to most of us in February, enjoy what’s left and ride that wave!

The only thing that matters is performance on Monday. It’s 6 days until the playoff final, frankly he could get wankered tomorrow and I wouldn’t care. He’s a 23yr old lad in superb physical shape, I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine for next Monday. They don’t have to live like monks.

Adomah had his best spell for us last season playing on the left, and for me that’s where he’d start the game with ElGhazi on the right. Honestly thought Smith made a mistake playing Hourihane instead of Whelan at the Hawthorns.

It’s all about our own performance. If we are at it, we will win. Our best is better than Derby’s. We didn’t take our best into the WBA games, so fingers crossed we get it right at Wembley.

Agreed. If we go up and secure the loans we have, a CDM upgrade for Whelan will be top priority.

The thing is, I think this current team we have is better than, or certainly equal to, the current teams at Brighton, Southampton, Burnley, and Bournemouth. So securing the loan players we have would, for me, be 1st priority. We have a new RB coming already in Guilbert, though we don’t know his abilities as yet. I’m not convinced we’ll be able to secure Tammy given Chelsea’s transfer ban, and I think Tuanzebe will be hard to get from UTD. But we HAVE to try if we go up. I feel certain that Maupay will be the alternative to Abraham if we go up, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Barbet arrive no matter what division we’re in. Let’s just get up and then relax and enjoy the ride!

It’s going to be a dirty and bitter 2nd leg. I think it could definitely be up there with the away games at Leeds and the pig sty. Prepare for their players throwing themselves to the ground at every opportunity, and there’ll be a lot of baiting. We have a healthy experience for games like that this season, so hopefully we stick to what we’re good at. For me we start with exactly the same 11.

All I can add is that I wouldn’t want to see Kodjia on the opposition team sheet. He’s been finding some form in the last few weeks and it’s no surprise he’s doing that as a CF. It was Kodjia coming on and Villa going two up top that swung the game at Rotherham, he’s a very decent CF in the championship. I’d rather have the option of Kodjia to either play alongside Tammy or replace him, than not. A lot of people are talking up Gayle & Rodriguez for WBA, and rightly so, but surely they can’t be thinking we’re too far adrift in the forwards area with Abraham & Kodjia?! I’m delighted to have Kodjia on our side and finding a bit of form going into the playoffs.

I think I can agree with most of this. Smith and his staff are getting the message through to the whole of the squad, and with every week that passes we appear to be becoming less reliant on individuals. Ideally (of course) we win promotion and can keep the momentum going. The important thing though is that we can see improvements being made and we’re heading in the right direction. Promotion would be the cherry on top of a really strong 3 months.

I’m reading a few comments about Whelan not being able to start both games, I think he can & probably will. For me he certainly starts at VP because his presence allows the McGinns of this world to roam forward and cause problems in the final third of the pitch. We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing for the last two months and not get carried away. Our best is better than WBAs best, I’m certain of that. Our football will prevail if we keep our nerve and discipline. I’d be expecting their front 2 to be under instruction to press onto Mings & Tuanzebe all the time so as to try and nullify them bringing the ball out from the back. Derby dispatched them relatively comfortably on Saturday and I’m certain we’re a better outfit than Derby. Stick to our football, make sure Mings & Tuanzebe are on song, and Grealish & Co should do the rest. We don’t have to go all out to try and kill the tie at VP because we’re equally effective away from home IMO, Leeds away the other week showed our mettle against a top team. Have to say I’d probably start Adomah over Green for this game. Steer,Elmo,Taylor,Mings,Tuanzebe,Whelan,McGinn,Grealish,ElGhazi,Adomah,Abraham. Bench;Kalinic,Hourihane,Lansbury,Kodjia,Hause,Green,Jedinak.

It’s quite tough to call who is going to get that 6th place finish. Will the Tesco bags go for the potential 3rd place finish? You can’t see Leeds not getting at least a point at Ipswich, but you never know after last weekend. My instinct tells me Derby will win at home because they have more to gain, but I just can’t shake this sneaking feeling I have about Boro stealing 6th. In any event, it doesn’t matter who gets through as long as we’re at 100%. If we are then we can be very confident.

If we won promotion I’d prefer we kept the core of the team, ie try to sign Mings, Tuanzebe, & Abraham permanently. I think we have options on Hause & ElGhazi, and for not much money. I’m guessing the 1st 3 I mentioned would set us back in the region of £50m if we could secure them. After that we’d need a younger upgrade for Glenn Whelan. I’d be relatively content if we could do that.

No

Officials should be able to spot premeditated plans to constantly foul particular players. You only need look at the stats, the evidence, to clearly see that some opposition teams set out to foul Grealish, and foul him hard. I’d suggest Grealish has suffered more horrendous challenges on him than any other player in this country over the last 5yrs. He’s been on the end of a good number of challenges that in many other leagues would result in straight red cards. I don’t think there’s yet been one straight red card for a challenge on Grealish, and if you watch a montage of the challenges on him over the years that’s a scandalous stat. Sometime soon someone will seriously injure Grealish.

It would be great to go up & sign Tammy permanently. Unfortunately I think the money required is going to go stupid, and if that’s the case I’d be quite content to see us turn to Maupay at Brentford. Same sort of age, about same amount of goals...........but probably a more realistic price, both salary and buying fee.

John Percy. Reliable

No retrospective action to be taken against Hourihane

The red card has been rescinded.

I’d agree with that. The only thing that concerned me yesterday was their skill in the dark arts, perhaps Villa need to look at that and be prepared to do the same. The Tesco bags also have a pair of frontmen happy to cheat to achieve any sort of win. Ditto Fulham last year in the playoff final. We mustn’t be naive in the use of dark arts, we’ll have it used against us more often than not. We must be as able as anyone else in that area. Like it or not. Moral superiority doesn’t win Premier League places now.