Rightdm00

Never thought I would be disappointed about a point at Old Trafford but the win was there for the taking. I used to get really annoyed by Smith's slowness to make changes but both our subs caused a noticeable drop in quality, especially Lansbury. Excuse the the American phrase im about to drop but that Jack goal was everything and a bag of chips. Love looking forward to premier league fixtures again its been a long time coming,

I feel that for us to match Grealish's trajectory would require an investment like Man City got when Sheikh Mansour bought them. FFP was created to make sure that never happens again.

It's also important that fans have realistic expectations. We came up through the playoffs as the #5 team in the Championship. Develop a progressive style of football and stay up. That's it. Anything else is a bonus.

If Maguire can go for 80 then I can easily see a world where Jack goes for triple digits. Sadly, with the way FFP works we may have to sell Jack or John if we ever want to push on with another large investment in the club. Everyone, except for the truly big clubs of Europe, have to sell to balance the books. It sucks to think about it but their is a right way to do it. You can't sell all your stars like Southampton. Leicester on the other hand have clearly worked out a blueprint we can follow. Be willing to pay the wages that allows you to lock up your talent for multiple years. Sell only when it suits you and make sure you reinvest wisely. Their only poor purchase so far have been Iheanacho and Slimani. Honestly I want Jack to play for Villa his entire career but you can see a path if he starts adding goals to his game that he can play for a team like Barca or Real. I have faith that our management team has a plan mapped out for either path. Based on our smart spending so far I think if we survive this season it's onwards and upwards for Villa .

Liverpool couldn't even keep Sterling or Suarez so if the player wants to go then he's gone. He's under a long term deal so if he does go we will be well compensated for it. Nothing else a supporter can do but savor every time he puts on that Villa shirt.

Why did we need a Plan B for tonight? Newcastle played right into our hands in the 2nd half. The game was wide open. Grealish, Wesley and Konsa missed clear chances in the 2nd half. Bury any one of those and the game is done.

Yep, and Sebastian Haller(4 goals) of 17th place West Ham cost £45 million. Crazy that Benteke cost £7 million in 2012.

Agree. I would have put my house on him to bury that 2nd half chance. He will get the next one.

Just curious not an attack but when you call Douglas casual is it like a Andrea Pirlo, he plays the game at his pace kind of casual, or is it he looks like he doesn't care enough.

It's almost comical. I hated playing Brentford during the Brucie days.

If i'm Bruce I never want to see another Dean Smith managed team ever again. Hate that we couldn't kill off the game in the 2nd half. Loved pretty much everything else. UTV.

We were literally hours away from going into administration while in the championship.

Yeah he scored after a ball literally fell to him from 5 yards out. Not trying to take anything away from him but any prem quality attacker should bury that. What about the shot he wiffed on from barely 6 yards out. Or the multiple attacks that broke down against Wolves the closer he got to the opponents box. Trez is all run no finish which was the main knock on him in the Turkish league as well.

That performance was pretty much on par with every game this season. A lot of running, never quitting, but a real lack quality in the final third. He can definitely do a job this season but if we ever wanna push up the table he will be one of the first players we will need an upgrade on.

Midfield was completely unbalanced without Jack. For most of the 1st half Nakamba was more advanced then Douglas and that was never gonna work. Maybe playing Hourihane over Douglas could have fixed that but that's no sure thing either. Our lack of depth is very obvious and worrying. I hate to say this but we need another 20 million easy this next window. We are 2 injuries in our starting 11 to being non-competitive in most matches.

Last international break came as we were in a roll. This one is a bit different How quickly the season can change. Injuries were eventually going to come into play and this week off will be very beneficial. Glad we got the goal back and never quit. Really hope the owners can spend another 10 to 20 million this January.

2 weeks for a muscle strain is pretty standard. If anything it shows you how top notch Villa's medical staff is. Running out a half fit player can lead to far more serious injury.

The games looks nothing like it did "back in the day." Teams press the entire length of the pitch, cover far more distance and require all 10 field players to participate in offense and defense. Wolves would definitely rotate their squad I'd they could but they lack the depth of a squad like City or Liverpool. Maybe you don't remember but MONs failure to rotate the squad during Villa's last European venture cost us dearly. Wolves, per The Athletic, have a cutting edge recovery program that starts the moment the players leave the pitch. I guess we will see how well it works in a couple days.

Completely agree. My job is currently paying for my graduate degree. I will owe them an extra year of service and then im free to shop my skills elsewhere. What Dean is describing is just how life and employment in a capitalist economy works. He sounds like an awesome manager. I see why the players are so willing to run through walls for him. He genuinely seems like he only wants best for his players and coaches.

I posted that in Man City post game thread. I'll pay up tomorrow. I'm a little too buzzed to be inputting card #s and such.

Yep, this all the way. Our depth makes it very hard to close out matches. Hourihane or Lansbury is not the type of midfielder you bring on to close out a game but what other choice does Smith have. Deano got it spot on today and if no one can notice the improvement between Spurs and now then please buy some glasses.

Defensive depth is great. Midfield depth is average to good but our attacking options are just dire. I'm pretty sure kodija didn't break into a Sprint all game and Keinan could be out for whoever knows how long. New forward, maybe even 2, in January please.

Thank you. A strikers job is to score goals. Everything else is secondary. Scoring a goal in football is one of the hardest things to accomplish in any team sport. That's why strikers are valued greater than any other position on the pitch. Yes, we would all love Wesley's hold up play and all around hustle to improve but to suggest replacing him with a striker that has shown zero ability to score goals at this level is really just the height of silliness.

I'm sorry but that just isn't true. You don't just ignore a players past when considering their future endeavours. It's not the end all be all but it definitely has to be considered. Otherwise you end up buying some one hit wonder just because he had a good run of games in one season. When transfer season comes back around everyone on here will be posting a players past endeavours to determine if he is someone to get excited about. Look, I would like to have a reasoned conversation about our striker situation but statement likes that show me that probably isn't gonna happen. So I will leave this one at that.

He scored a grand total of 2 in the Championship. The Prem is many times harder than the Championship so yeah just like Che Adams and many other Champ strikers who struggle he could be goal less right now. You have mentioned multiple times how we are in a relegation fight and can't wait on players to come good. That is literally what we would be doing if benched Wesley and gave Keinan a solid run of games.