wilko154

True but I would rather get to 40 points so we aren't in a last day of the season battle. I would prefer it even more to smash the 40 points by January/February.

If's and But's Almost don't want to do this now, but I'm pretty sure we will turn it around. 40 is the magic number of points we need to beat relegation. Last season this would have achieved 15th place in the league. To achieve this we would require 4 points per month. If we are to better this and achieve 6 points per month we would beat Wolves last season with a haul of 60 points, 7th. For now let's aim to beat relegation. August Tottenham - Loss Bournemouth - Loss Everton - Predicted Draw Crystal Palace - Predicted Win Predicted Points - 4 Current Points - 0 We still have the chance to pick up 6 points, and we certainly have the chance to achieve 4 points still this month. Roll on Friday, let's get some points on the board!

Yeh I agree, either that or bring Jota in as a winger but let him float inside to help out the midfield. You are right though El Ghazi was anonymous during the second half.

Mixed day today. Absolutely dreadful for the first 20 minutes, grew into the game upto half time and then it was all Villa for 45 minutes. I was surprised he ditched Hourihane in favour of Luiz, I was worried without a pre-season and without speaking fluent English he may struggle being dropped in. First half exactly that happened, he looked lost in the midfield and it cost us for the second goal. Fairplay to him though, second half he grew into the game and showed what he is about, a fantastic finish for the goal. Mings and Engels both showed their class again, Engels slightly shaky to start off. Taylor again showed there is a footballer in there somewhere. In midfield McGinn dragged the team through at times with some darting runs. Trezeguet looked a handful on the wing, if he can improve we will have some player on our hands. Grealish and El Ghazi were both poor. Grealish is just taking too much time on the ball, he's overthinking passes and losing possession in silly places; he barely lost the ball at all in the 10 game run at the end of last season. We really need him to start showing his quality and quickly. El Ghazi showed glimpses of promise early on but faded with the game. Wesley was a handful up front, he needs to cut out the strops and find some goalscoring form. It will come for him. Overall despite the defeat there were some flashes of the team we could become. If we can begin to integrate Targett and Guilbert (although Taylor currently deserves his spot), and put in a 90 minute performance similar to that of today's second half we will be alright. The worry is where the goals are going to come from.

Yeh I agree, I'm on Episode 3 and it's not quite at the standard of Sunderland Till I Die. Still an interesting watch though.

Out on Amazon Prime today, looking forward to watching this tonight.

He creates chances by being big and not getting pushed off the ball. I'm not saying I want him to start every week but I think he deserves a chance in games. He's actually a very tidy, skillful footballer Against Spurs Kodjia was the wrong option to bring on, we were stretched and needed to hold the ball up front to relieve the pressure. Wesley wasn't doing it well, Kodjia didn't do it at all. A battering ram like Davis would have been a better option. Smith must have seen something in Keinan to have kept him in his squad this season. It's now up to him to prove it.

He doesn't do nothing, he makes great runs...

I actually think this may have strengthened us as Keinan Davis now has a spot on the bench.

I am the same, loved the early seasons but they aren't the same anymore. Glad there are only a couple more to go.

Watched Creed II last night, thought it was pretty average. Basically the same as Creed I. They are trying to live off bringing past characters back which will only get them so far.

Just quoting this list to drag us towards 1000 pages...

That is probably the most nonsense I have read on VT this week. We didn't play 'park the bus, cop out' football at all on Saturday. First half we gave as good as we got, went at Spurs on the front foot whenever possible and lead the game at half time. Second half we sat back due to the pressure Spurs put on us, that's what a Champions League Finalist can do to a team like us. We didn't 'park the bus' tactically, we sat back due to the strength of the team we were playing. Of all recent Villa managers Smith has the most defined plan on how we will play all games, we will play the same way week in week out and try to win games. How we adapt to the opposition during games in the early stages of the season is something we will have to learn from and improve.

Is it true that the Ticket Office and Club Store are still standing with a slight revamp? I was under the impression they were torn down in July, but saw photos of them covered in banners on Twitter this morning.

He will struggle to score whilst he is sat in Tyrone Mings back pocket.

Started this over the weekend, seriously dark isn't it. Looking forward to finishing it off this week.

First half we only conceded 7 shots, only one of which was on target. The difference came in the second half when Spurs battered us for 45 minutes, this wasn't really Hourihane's fault but a collective from the team. They were just too strong for us and we couldn't retain possession as a team. Second half we conceded 24 shots, 6 on target. After Hourihane went off for Luiz on the 82nd minute we conceded 6 of the 24 shots and 2 of the 6 shots on target. It was hardly an improvement. I still maintain that Hourihane had a good first half and is worth persisting with until Luiz and Nakamba are up to speed. I really think he will cause Bournemouth some problems with set pieces on Saturday.

Heaton Guilbert Engels Mings Taylor Hourihane McGinn Grealish Jota Wesley Trezeguet Bench: Steer, Konsa, Targett, Elmo, Luiz, El Ghazi, Kodjia For me I would go with this on Saturday. Guilbert and Jota linked up well in pre-season and saw us retain the ball well. The right hand side seemed weak against Spurs Taylor retains his place for me, as does Hourihane. Both were good and players behind them need to come in and prove themselves. Would like to see Luiz given a chance second half if it goes well.

Pretty harsh, Wesley wasn't in the game at all as he was struggling up front alone. Tottenham had all the possession and we were expecting him to battle two centre backs, hold the ball up and wait to bring players into the game. Kodjia never stood a chance coming on, he's not a target man. Davis would have been a better option however even he would have found it tough. Kodjia will be fine against weaker opposition when he has time on the ball and can cause problems.

If's and But's 40 is the magic number of points we need to beat relegation. Last season this would have achieved 15th place in the league. To achieve this we would require 4 points per month. If we were to better this and achieve 6 points per month we would beat Wolves last season with a haul of 60 points, 7th. For now let's aim to beat relegation. August Tottenham - Loss Bournemouth - Predicted Win Everton - Predicted Draw Crystal Palace - Predicted Win Predicted Points - 7 Current Points - 0 Let's see how we get on. Last seasons prediction's saw us win 10 on the bounce and move from 14th to 5th.

1-0 Arsenal Would be nice to see Newcastle got tonked at home first game of the season.

I imagine Southgate left the game last night with more to think about than just Grealish. Mings wouldn't look out of place in the current England side. It's early days though, he now needs to deliver on a consistent basis. Engels and Mings has the potential to be a cracking centre back pairing though.

Taylor for games we will be on the back foot and defending for the majority. Targett for games we expect to have more of the possesion. It's a squad game and is good management by Smith. I expect he will do similar with Elmo and Guilbert to begin with.

Reminded me of the start of last season. In and out of the game and didn't have a big impact. Last season it took him a few games to get into the swing of Championship football, it may be the same again for the PL. It's a huge step up and it will take a bit of time for players like El Ghazi, the quality of the full backs are hugely different.