Mark_1989

Probably win the PL this year and CL next? would settle for that if not FA cup minimum.

WTF..Nakamba for Luiz. NO WAY! Our success is down to the fact Luiz is allowing the midfield infant of him to do their jobs. So comfortable on the ball and has a huge engine. He is the bedrock that allow the others to 'play'.

Easily MOTM tonight

Dougie is so pivotal to us as a team, everyone knows he’s a brilliant player but he is the foundation for which the team is built. Go back the last few years and even prior to lockdown, Jack was coming so deep to pick the ball up off the CBs and trying to do everything on his own. Dougie is a very composed and intelligent player with great awareness and can pass, he is comfortable with the ball, it is him who now sits deep and takes the ball off Konza and TM, this allows Jack to stay further up the pitch attracting two opposition players. Luiz can carry the ball himself so straight away Jack is receiving the ball in more advantageous areas. Throw in a fully fit JM and a boss in Barkley and suddenly our Midfield is up there with the some of the best in league IMHO. But key to this is Dougie. I’ll be so sad when he goes.

Mginn MOTM by a country mile tonight.

Tbf I agreed with commentator. There were a few times today Jack should have pulled the trigger

anyone else having trouble trying to buy the game..bought the last one but its saying I'm not logged in even though I am???

Dude has he earned his start Monday? ....just walking through the door earned him a start. There is no plausible or logical reason he would start Trez over him.

NGL I think he was trying to square it. Either way he looked great and adds to the teams confidence. The players will trust him immediately and he will definitely have defenders on the back foot worried with his pace. I think he is going to be a significant improvement on Trez. Excited for Fulham now.

Can’t see us paying £8m for a 34 year old.

And so it should

The more I reflect I think today’s scoreline and performance was the perfect start for the season. Ultimately we got 3 points which was the aim. However we weren’t great against ten men which is ok for two main reasons 1- we are not going to get complacent whereby had we won 3-0 we might think we are better than we are and mask some big flaws, 2 - it is still very obvious that we need more attacking intent and therefore it’s imperative we bring in more additions before the window closes. Our keeper made a vital contribution which is massive, gives him confidence and also breeds confidence with our defence/keeper, he made some great claims when the ball was whipped into our box and I’m sure we will all agree he looked assured when called on. The defence although rarely tested have gotten a clean sheet. We only managed 7 all last season so to get one early is very welcome. We were by no means great but we have a new winger eligible for the next game and hopefully some more signings and this should hopefully relegate trez to the bench who is woeful. Another CM needed and a decent start from Watkins. Hopefully an easier season ahead.

On pace for 114pts I’ll settle for 110 tho.

Don’t think it’s been released the date...we’ve got a bit of luck having that pushed back. Hopefully these two games ease us into the season not suffer early on.

Fulham could be a good follow up game for us. I think we will be very good on the counter attack. They will be looking to get some points on the board we gotta use the pace we’ve added to get in behind them. Traore to hopefully start.

We are off and running. UTV

Hopefully that’s the last we see of him. UTV

Sure hope he’s not another Andre Green. I doubt he can be as bad. Feel optimistic about him to be honest.

Utter nonsense - no serious Villa fan wants to be proved right about a manager of their club failing and ultimately he hasn’t failed to date - long may this continue. Every fibre of me wants him to succeed too. As I point out people are allowed to question him? He made many mistakes last season and the fact things went our way that weren’t under our control shows we got an element of luck towards the end. I feel there is a trend on VT with regards to people being overly sensitive and take opinions they don’t agree with to heart and get defensive. NO-ONE wants smith to fail!

Baffles me when people come out with statements like ‘X’ amount of years ahead of schedule therefore he can be justified ‘X’ Its a ridiculous mindset people need to move away from - like any business/sports team we need to constantly update and review our aims, ambitions and aspirations. This way we can look to constantly move forward and not stand still.

You say that as if people are wrong to question him?? A team that constantly gave away leads time and time again making the same mistakes, a team that was notoriously poor after HT people are allowed to question his tactics and substitutions etc. We were hurtling towards relegation till lockdown. Yes we tightened up defensively after the break but we still weren’t particularly good. I was absolutley ecstatic that he got us over the line as I want nothing more than him to be a huge success but won’t apologise for calling him out if/when he makes mistakes. As much as everyone wants him to succeed and love the fact he’s Villa fan etc etc There’s sadly no room for sentiment in football I’m afraid.

Some people on here are very naive to think that the owners won’t act if Smith gets off to a slow or rugged start. These owners appear to mean serious business and are not investing to scrape relegation this year. We will never truly know but my sense is Smith was close to the chop after the 4-0 defeat to Leicester before lockdown. I’d probably look to assess how he is doing after 6 games and if struggling by the 10th look to change manager with nearly 75% of season left to play. Of course I hope it isn’t a reality we have to address a I really believe we can kick on this year and I like Dean a lot. Hopefully he can become confident in his own decision making and is stronger for the tough campaign last year. But we really need to set our sights higher than just staying up. People who would accept 17th right now frustrate me.

just about But I guarantee 38 points next season and Smith won’t be in charge the following year, even DS will be hoping he’s not relying on Trez. Depends if we get Rashica in or not but can see Traore one side and Jack on the left. At least him and AEG will be relegated to the bench

Still where have I placed blame squarely at his feet? I used the word ‘may’ To suggest improved performances from him and the outcome possibly would be different in the sense we may have gained more points. We ‘may’ also have been in the same predicament but I’m not sure I’ve placed blame squarely on him.