wilko154

Sheff Utd are actually a very good side, first time I have watched them this season.

Brilliant description there. What happens if we go up this season? Come March 2019 do we have a combined maximum loss of £63m again as it will be 2 Championship & 1 Premiership seasons? Or do promoted clubs have an allowance to catch up with the ridiculous money being thrown around the Premiership?

Realistically though a 40 million fine would be preferable to dropping points and losing out on promotion... This 40 million fine has been incurred from 2013/14, if QPR had established themselves in the Premiership it would have been a minor insignificance now. 40 million fine to be paid in 2021/22 after establishing ourselves in the Premiership with Tony Xia? I would take it

Back fit... I hope our social media team stop calling him 'The Beard' this season, it's embarrassing.

I would say Chelsea vs Arsenal is a rivalry Blues vs Villa is a derby

Chelsea don't really have a rival in the sense of a local derby. QPR & Fulham are probably their closest rivals and that is nothing like Villa vs Blues. I understand where you are coming from though, Terry is used to pressure and this will be nothing to him.

Can anyone give an out of 10 on Designated Survivor as I may start it this week?

Yeh I take that back I haven't taken too much notice of their results the last few weeks! Not quite as confident now

Unfortunately you are quite right here, a change won't happen and so there is no point continually discussing it. We've had a run of 4 games in which we have won yet people in this thread are still on the managers back, not prepared to believe that he has found a winning formula. As soon as we lose a game the knives are sharpened and back out for him. He got it wrong Saturday, the players didn't turn up and we were beaten by a better team who have spent a lot of money. On to the next one at home next weekend where we can take 3 points against a weak Fulham side

The over reaction here is quite impressive, we had a poor day yesterday and unfortunately Wolves were really good. A few weeks ago they played poorly themselves against Sheff Utd and lost 2-0... everyone in this league has a bad week To say we are miles off target for promotion is a bold statement when we are only in October, 1 point off the playoffs and 5 points off the automatics. We now have 2 winnable games and then a 6 pointer for a playoff place against Preston Yes we lost a game, but we've come off the back off an 8 game unbeaten run. No need to panic just yet

Interesting read if true, 4-4-2 it is! http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-boss-steve-bruce-13758375

Really hope Bruce doesn't bottle this and play defensively, after watching his interview he seems concerned by their attacking trio. If we adjust our tactics to match their strike force, playing 3 at the back or dropping a CDM in, then it will reduce the attacking intent of our own side and pile some more pressure on us. In this league we shouldn't fear any team, our squad is more than capable of beating anyone without having to adjust our tactics.

Back in full training! Make or break time for Mr Grealish

Give the bloke a chance, he's been out of the team for a couple of week's due to the way the current side is playing but it doesn't mean he won't break back into the team this season. If anything the competition for a place in the team should bring out the best in the players who have found themselves outside of the starting 11. See Conor Hourihane for evidence of this this season. I actually think Lansbury could do a similar, possibly better job than Whelan in a midfield two.

I had the same letter, it say's that they will honour the promotional offers currently active and so you will continue paying what you are paying until the end of the 12 months.

You clearly weren't at the game today. You say 'Before playing us, they had played and lost seven games without scoring'... well know they have played and lost eight games without scoring. They were a well set up team who came to Villa Park with a game plan, unfortunately their game plan was aided by the referee's inability to issue yellow cards early on in the game. We had more possession but found it hard at times to break down Bolton with 10 men behind the ball, but we still came away with 3 points in spite of this. I'm pretty certain a 4th win in a row and 8 unbeaten games is generating a fair amount of confidence at the moment. Just because we are Aston Villa doesn't give us the divine right to beat teams at the bottom of the table by 4 or 5 goals.

So are you saying when we play badly we should slate Bruce... but when we play well we should all be silent and wait for him to fail again? No one thinks this is what Bruce planned, they are just happy that we are beginning to look like a serious football club again. Bruce get's a lot of stick, and early on in the season rightly so, but the players had to take a look at themselves as well. They are now performing well together under some decent tactics from Bruce and long may it continue.

I understand your point here however there are a few differences this season... Squad depth is much better this season We are no longer relying on Kodjia for goals We have finally put more than 1 or 2 goals past teams Our away record is not looking as bleak as last season ACON is not going to start the decline as it did last season when we reached 9th -

Nothing but a good thing having Scott Hogan waiting on the bench to make an impact and force himself into the first team. I can't even remember the last time that we had too many strikers in a squad trying to compete for first team places. At some point this season Hogan will come into some form and score some vital goals, no doubt about it.

Brilliant for us this season. I don't think it's a coincidence that he has improved this season with John Terry playing in front of him. Sign him up.

I'm probably in the minority who thought Whelan had a good game on Saturday, and again last night. I don't think he is the type of player that you need spraying passes around a pitch, which is one of the weaker aspects of his game (although some of his long balls are pretty good). Instead he's the player that you need in there breaking up the play and doing the dirty work to let Hourihane and the wingers play their game. A lot like Petrov (not as good obviously) but you would miss him if he wasn't playing, and not notice him when he is playing. Whether Lansbury or Jedinak can do the same job in a midfield 2 remains to be seen.

Looking like a different team tonight

Should have come on against Forest when Snodgrass tired, would have given the defence something to think about and given him a bit of game time over Alan Hutton getting a run-out.

Cracked me up haha

Johnstone Elmo Chester Terry Taylor Whelan Hourihane Snodgrass Adomah Davis Kodjia If it ain't broke... Only worry for me is Whelan but if we can play as we did against Barnsley away from home then we should be good tonight. If Whelan's legs go again then we can pull him at half time and bring in Onomah or Lansbury depending on what the game needs. The game for resting a few players is Saturday at home against a Bolton side bottom of the league. If a professional footballer at this stage of the season can't handle two football matches in a week then they need to take a look at their fitness...