juanpablosaliceband

Harsh to leave out his early season glut of goals. He got 15 in 34 league games which is a good return.

It might not have looked like a mistake as there was no calamity factor, but the shot was from outside the box and dropped in only about 1 metre behind where he was standing. He took an eternity to move his feet. Any premier league goalie would have kept that out comfortably in my view. Anyway, all is well that ends well!

Big no from me. Getting stuck in quicksand for the West Ham equaliser was enough for me. And he’s only going to get worse.

What about Matt Targett jumping about 15 feet in the air in the dying minutes to head the ball back into West Ham’s penalty box from his own half! I knew at that point we’d hold strong! Huge commitment again today. Proud of all involved!

I stood up during injury time to do some nervous pacing and my legs completely gave up on me. Had to sit down again!

Tried that in the last 20 against Everton. Doesn’t work.

I think a draw will keep us alive to the final day, where we should beat West Ham who will have nothing to play for. I don’t see Watford getting another point. I’m more worried about Bournemouth. I say we stay up.

That’s 21 points we’ve now dropped from winning positions. TWENTY ONE.

I can’t vote for any one option because all four have contributed to a terrible season. A case could be made to include the owners too. They have invested heavily but it looks like they’ve got it wrong with Purslow, Suso and Smith, and their loyalty or reluctance to make a change has left us going down in style. I’m not convinced Purslow can turn this club around. He strikes me a as a guy keen on the limelight (post play off interviews, etc.) but I don’t see him having the ability to put a plan together and lead us forward. I don’t know much about Suso to be honest but most of our signings have been disastrous which he needs to be held accountable for. They may turn into good players but for this season, we’ve got it badly wrong. Smith has to take responsibility for the performances on the pitch. In too many games, we have either lacked fight and heart, looked disorganised, given the opposition too much space, given up easily and generally looked like we don’t have a plan. A strong manager would demand better, even if his squad is limited. Our squad is below average but I don’t believe it is significantly worse than Sheffield United, Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford, Burnley, Brighton or Newcastle. McGoldrick just helped SU thump Chelsea for god’s sake. He’s an extremely limited player. I would question the fitness of our players too. Finally, our players as a group have really let the fans down this season. They haven’t shown the fight we deserved, especially since the restart. Grealish has been superb for most of the season but hasn’t led us since the restart and I get the feeling he’s been flirting with Man Utd the past six months. Hardly what we need in a captain. Too many of our other supposed leaders have gone backwards as the season progressed, such as Mings and McGinn even pre injury. For me, our owners need to reflect. They have enough experience in other sports in turning things around. I just hope they find the right advice and make the required changes. I expect heads to roll. I’d love to see them heavily invest in the academy and coaching at the club, putting proper structures in place for us to grow in the right way. Too many of our homegrown players haven’t been good enough to step up to the first team. This shouldn’t be the case for the biggest club in the midlands. Our owners have all the ingredients at their disposal to make this club a success; their wealth, biggest club in England’s second city, fifth most successful club in England’s history, huge fan base in England and abroad, strong brand in Aston Villa and its history, a renowned stadium. Very few clubs in England have these raw materials. It is time for action. I know we’ve been saying these same things for years but I can only hope our current owners are finally the ones to put things right.

I am not sure that’s a good thing to be honest. I think he’s leaving at the end of the season and as much as I love how he stayed with us through tough years, I’m tired of the sulky body language from a captain and the constant efforts of the media to sell him. Even the Sky commentator had him in the United team before a ball was even kicked tonight. I’d prefer he maximises his value and we just let him go for a good price. The way things are going at the moment, Bruce brings him to Newcastle for 30 million.

Villa player on the receiving end of a potential leg breaker. Penalty to United. Sums up the season.

Incidentally, speaking of remaining games, I make the average league position of the opposition for each team to be: Bournemouth - 8th (8.00) Villa - 9th (8.57) Watford - 11th (11.00) West Ham - 13th (12.57) Not too much in it.

Sorry. I meant our ratings and reactions thread on the game today. I’m sensing more positivity here.

It is amazing to see the difference in mood in this thread to the Newcastle reaction thread. All is not lost folks. The game in hand is gone but we’ve gained two points on Bournemouth and West Ham. We are still in the mix. Maybe we can draw our way to safety!

Fair point! Anyway, I think staying up is bigger than Grealish or any other player. If we can get a second season in this league, I believe we are on the rise, with or without Grealish.

I would agree with you if we were talking about Milner or Young, neither of whom had any emotional connection to Villa. But it’s different with Grealish. Does a Villa supporter grow up dreaming of winning titles with Man United and Liverpool? It’s a big if, but if we manage to stay up this year, Villa is a club on the rise and Grealish could go on to have a great career with Villa and England. If he does move and wins some titles with the likes of Man United, how much will they mean to him when he’s 40 and back home with his Villa family. They would be meaningless to me but I’m not a professional sportsperson. Only he knows but as Villa fans we should at least be able to come with some arguments for why he should stay. And this tripe from Hourihane again today has seriously annoyed me.

Why does he need to be playing in Europe now? He’s from Birmingham. He’s an Aston Villa player who apparently loves the club. Maybe it would mean something to him when he retired and he has helped restore Aston Villa as a force in English football. Why would he want to play in Europe with a team like Man United, who most Aston Villa supporters despise? Why is the default position that any good player is too good to be at Aston Villa and needs to leave for personal gain?

Conor’s comments are sadly reflective of the loser mentality that has been allowed to cripple Aston Villa’s progress for decades. One of the most concerning things is that the club clearly didn’t give a Conor a wrap on the knuckles after the first interview and this type of behaviour seems acceptable. Villa fans defending this mentality from Conor is equally depressing. Most Villa fans are sickened to see Aston Villa players fuelling speculation about our best player leaving. Our sole focus should be staying up, keeping our best players and building for the future. Is it that crazy to suggest a player earning millions every year might actually be motivated to stay at the club he supposedly loves and aim for long term success with that club. Or is professional sport now beyond such a concept. Most amateur sports people I know would rather quit their game than move to a rival club. Conor should know better too, coming from the same place as Roy Keane. Imagine someone like Roy Keane coming out with comments like this. We desperately need to get back to a position where it means something to play for Aston Villa.

Mick McCarthy would do a better job with this team. Why can’t we set up some sort of defensive structure to deal with set pieces? It shouldn’t be so difficult. Our midfielders are 30 yards away from each other when we get the ball, leaving nobody to pass to. It’s a shambles. What’s going on on the training ground? We went to old Trafford and passed United off the pitch in the first half. We are progressively getting worse.

Samatta blatantly pushed in the back on the edge of their box in the lead up to the second. No composure from mings for the clearance. Poor from Reina too.

Wesley is clearly tired. Not bringing Kodjia on in his place is bizarre.

Fair point. Leicester’s organisation is on another level. But some of our players worry me. I don’t see what Wesley and Nakamba are going to offer this season.

I have a feeling and hope that there may be performance related clauses in that contract.

Too many players looking nowhere near good enough at the minute; Nakamba, Konsa, Elmo, even Mings, Targett, McGinn, Wesley, Trez. Worrying times.

Targett makes a red card challenge at 3-1 down and finds the whole thing funny. He was smiling at 1-0 down in the first half too. Not the type of character we need if we are going to start winning some games. Players should be angry to be 3-1 down.