wilko154

I don't want to be completely negative here... but I think with Grealish not being available for another month our playoff hopes are all but gone now.

I've now watched this back in real time and it's 100% an accident. Oliveira literally falls under Mings as runs over him. There's no chance it was premeditated stamp. His reaction after looks to be completely genuine as well. From the referee's position I would doubt a ban will be incurred. Slow motion makes things look a lot different. It's almost like where a player is accused of diving after a slight touch, when you look back and the player has been running at full pelt a slight touch is all it can take to knock them off their balance.

I heard a few people mention this on Saturday. Personally I would rather we went up this season and got bummed in every single game next season and went back down, all whilst rebuilding over the transfer windows. The money alone from going up and then going back down over staying in this league would ease FFP and further help the Dean Smith revolution.

Another week and another game... Friday night see's us back at Villa Park and the start of a much tougher run of fixtures. I think everyone is crossing their fingers that Jack Grealish will be back on Friday. Kalinic Hutton Elphick Mings Taylor Whelan Hourihane Kodjia McGinn El Ghazi Abraham I would go with the same team this week, but drop out Adomah for Kodjia. Adomah was useless on Saturday. Then we pray that our new and improved defence can hold out until the second half where (fingers crossed) the messiah returns to waltz through their defence. 2-0 Villa Keep the faith.

Just finished my second season with Villa. First season I won the Championship with 106 points. Second season I qualified for the Champions League finishing in 4th. The title went down to the last game of the season, but lost 3-1 to Man United. I would have won the title but literally half of my first team were injured in the last month of the season. Not quite sure how I've managed to get into the Champions League as my squad is pretty much the same as the season in the Championship.

Mings was brilliant on Saturday, exactly the type of centre back we need in Tuanzebe's absence. Unfortunately I think he will now receive a ban for the challenge on Oliviera. I don't think it was intentional to do it, and it was clearly not like the Ibra stamp, but he didn't make any effort to move his leg away from his face as he landed. Even when he looked down and saw him he still followed through with his full body weight. I hope he isn't banned, but it doesn't look great. Blades should also be banned, this injury wouldn't be half as bad with studs.

Absolutely not. Bring a new manager in during the summer, rip up what Smith has started and try and build something different over one transfer window before the fans start blaming him for there not being instant success. No thanks. Dean Smith is building something here, it's going to take time.

Mings and Carroll will both be in the squad for Saturday. Hause is on the bench each week and must be near full fitness. Kalinic has played every game since coming in. Obviously we are aiming for the playoffs, but we also have one eye on next season and not trying to piss all our money down the drain as we have done for the last 10 years. Honestly think some of our fans are still in denial of where we are as a football club.

I actually think the 'we need a defensive midfielder' argument is a myth. We have two defensive in midfielder's in Whelan and Jedinak, both aren't what we need. What we need is a 3 man midfield that can work together to control a game and retain possesion. Yes one of them sits in a deeper role, but that is more to do with dictating the play rather than breaking it up. Hourihane has proved he can do this, but he's a lot better at doing it with a strong midfield in front of him (McGinn and Grealish together). Whether Carroll will take Hourihane's role and let him push further forward or sit in whilst Grealish is out remains to be seen.

I actually said the other day that Westwood would now fit into our team very well, so in the whole I am pleased with this signing if he is in that mould. Composed on the ball with a good passing range, I just hope he has some energy and can get the midfield moving. Our current problem is that the midfield goes missing too often, I hope he can help this.

Actually really pleased with this window. I'm sure there are players we missed out on but that happens in every window. Kalinic will improve now that the back 4 has been solidified. Two new centre backs, with both able to cover left back. Elphick back as well. It now gives us the option to rest Chester and get him back fit by the end of the month. I honestly think Mings will make a huge difference. In the middle of the park Carroll came out of nowhere but he is a Dean Smith sort of player. Fer would have been great, but buying him at 29 years old wouldn't have been following the build for the future mould. Carroll, McGinn and Hourihane in the middle of the park until Grealish is back will give us a bit more mobility, the current problem is a lack of movement. Smith likes his midfield to play triangles through the middle, interchanging position's when required and this is something we have been unable to do well with Whelan and Bjarnasson. Andre Green back on the wing in my opinion will be an upgrade on Bolasie with work ethic alone. We could have broke the bank, wasted more money and regretted it again in the Summer. It now seems the club has a forward thinking plan in place where we don't go out splashing cash that we don't have. The Summer will be a massive rebuild but we are slowly building a team and replacing the deadwood. Rome wasn't built in a day. As for the outgoings, all of the players that left yesterday need to play regular first team football to progress their careers. It's about time they went to do that. If they prove successful next season we could finally see some of them integrated into the first team and in the process save ourselves some money.

@Hornso is going to be busy

Steve is that you?

I always had that dream so bought a run down house which I'm currently living in and renovating. Homes under the hammer make it look a lot easier than it actually is. Damn you Dion Dublin!

Agreed, this is the best game I've ever played and I'm not even halfway through it yet.

Can he play left back?

Nothing wrong with Bree, he's the type of young player we need at the club. A loan spell will do him good this season.

So we are going to loan out Bree... Then sign a right back... Then also loan him out as well... This club

4 points off the playoffs with 51 points to play for... I would say its definately not over.

Back four made up entirely of left back's. It's like a Steve Bruce wet dream.

Also wondering this... I'm pretty sure squads have to be submitted by Friday for a Saturday game so we should be good.

It's exactly the same as footballers... We'll use Dwight Gayle as an example. He's played Premiership football but wasn't prolific (good but not great), he now plays Championship football and is very prolific (he's a great player at this level). In the world as a whole he is an incredible footballer when you compare Dwight Gayle to the likes of me and you - he's a professional footballer playing football at a professional football club. Steve Bruce is the same. At Premier League level he is a good manager, not great but good. At Championship level he is a great manager, he's proved this with achieving promotion 4 times. Granted his style of football (or lack of) isn't everyones cup of tea, but he gets results most of the time and knows how the league works. In the grand scheme of things he is one of the top managers in English football compared to the likes of me and you and will therefore always get jobs in football. But you are correct he won't nail a big job as Steve Bruce is Dwight Gayle and not Sergio Aguero.

Sounds to me as though we have missed out on all our targets...

Does anyone know what time the window closes tomorrow? Is it 5pm again?