wilko154

I'd take him back in January. Not to play him... just to spite them.

Didn't think the kick to the face was that bad... Hopefully he is back for Friday as he was a huge miss when he went off.

Would expect to see O'Hare on the bench on Friday, he offers something that we don't currently have available to bring on. Last night I would rather have seen O'Hare brought on over El Ghazi, and the same for Bolasie on Saturday after witnessing his performance. With Jack currently out of form (I don't think it will last), he gives us an option to replace him should we need it.

Played well last night but faded by the end. Could have done with being taken off for Bjarnasson but we needed to get Kodjia on as Hogan was completely ineffective. Rest him for Friday and get O'Hare on the bench in his place.

I don't agree with that. At this point of the game Norwich were on top and we were struggling with possesion, Abraham was working to hold the ball up when we knocked it long with varied success. Bringing on Kodjia in this situation would have meant the ball could continue to be held up and would have given them something to think about. Instead we brought on Hogan who is never going to hold up a ball and can't control a pass to save his life, it added to the pressure Norwich built on us. In the right game bringing Hogan on will help us, but in a game like last night it hindered us. When we are on top, holding onto possesion and able to slide passes through the lines he will be very important to us.

Another game and another chance to get back into the promotion race. We were poor last night, however we were playing a very good Norwich side who pressed us for 90 minutes giving us very little time on the ball. At the moment, with the Dean Smith style of play just being implemented we had no answers to their pressing and buckled under the second half pressure. I'm sure Smith will have had a few things to say after the game, and also some further idea's on players that fit into his team going forward. For this one I would make a few changes from Tuesday. I would expect Abraham to be back, but Adomah looks set to miss the game. Nyland Bree Tuanzebe Chester Taylor McGinn Hourihane Elmo Grealish Kodjia Abraham Subs: Bunn, Hutton, Jedinak, Hourihane, O'Hare, Bolasie, Hogan

It's not going to happen this season, it may only be an 8 point gap but we are 2-3 months away from producing anywhere near the performances Smith want's us to produce. It's becoming evident that we haven't spent a lot of money on quality Championship standard players, we've overpaid on some very average (some very poor) Championship standard players. It's the result of buying a first team with no plan on how to utilise them.

Unfortunately Smith lost that game by bringing on Hogan over Kodjia, the game needed a player to hold the ball up top and Hogan doesn't do that/or anything else. In saying that the team created nothing for Hogan and some of the passing was atrocious. Badly missed McGinn and Bjarnasson in the midfield.

Getting outplayed by Norwich... pretty embarrassing. Top of the list to get rid of in January - Hutton, Hogan, El Ghazi, Grealish, Nyland

Still strolling around the Villa Park pitch waiting for someone to pass him the ball.

Think Bjarnasson would offer more in the high press playing centrally.

Thought Taylor's been pretty solid. Tuanzebe has been immense. Whelan doesn't offer as much as Bjarnasson and he's struggling, although some of the balls to him don't help. Grealish is too far forward a lot of the time and need's to be sat in the gap next to Hourihane. Hutton started slow again but is growing into it.

Would love him & Hogan to come off the bench and show what they can do, potentially would be like two new signings.

Have to say I was massively impressed on Saturday, the difference in the way we played football was outstanding in the short time he had with the players. Things that impressed were: Playing out from the back consistently. Chester and Tuanzebe were dropping into the sides of the box when Nyland had the ball, it immediately gives an option for an out ball with both full backs already higher up the pitch. It also pulls in the whole opposition team as they look to stop the out ball, and mark the midfielders who are waiting on the edge of the box for a ball out. For too long balls out from the back have been lumped forward and come straight back at us. Players in the right positions. Taylor and Hutton both in their correct positions, with Tuanzebe at centre back. Grealish being played centrally with two wingers on each side. The whole team looked more of a unit from this, Taylor deserves some credit as he was brilliant at left back and it made a massive difference having a left footed player in that position. Confidence. The confidence in the team was clear to see. Nyland and Taylor both had strong games, and Tuanzebe looked very assured at centre back. Chester also looked much more relaxed. Consistently playing this back 4 will now allow them to grow even further and become a defensive unit that we really need. Pressing. We pressed for around 70 minutes before some of the team tired, Smith then made the substitutes to continue this but they weren't too effective (Kodjia/Bolasie). Pressing isn't something we have done enough of and we usually invite pressure onto us especially in the closing stages of a game. McGinn was exceptional in this role and it really plays to his strengths. Things I hope we now look at and begin to change: Set pieces need working on. At the start of the season McGinn was putting some incredible balls into the box from corners and free kicks, since then we seem to have Grealish or Hourihane taking the majority. I wouldn't mind McGinn being given more of these along with getting some work done on set pieces in general. The amount of corners we waste from under hitting, or over hitting balls into the box is just daft. Leave a man up top for opposition corners. Just leave Grealish up there, he's hardly going to win a header and it immediately gives us an out ball, or something for the opposition to think about when the ball comes out. Currently the ball is cleared and they have plenty of time to either smash it back in or start another attack. Hutton was decent in the second half, but he was poor in the first half (possibly from not playing right back for a while). Given some time this season I would like to see Bree brought through and given a chance to take the right back spot. Passing was at times off, but Smith has mentioned this in his pre-match interview and I think this will be worked on soon. Abraham was the worst for this in the first half giving away possesion a few times, that being said he had a good game.

For me: Nyland Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor Bjarnasson Hourihane Elmo Grealish Adomah Abraham Bunn, Jedinak, Bree, Lansbury, Bolasie, Kodjia, Hogan

Spent hours on FUT Squad Battles this week, got myself up to Elite and opened two premium player packs and one mega pack this morning... all average players. Officially done with FUT this year.

I think it depends if there is a recall option included in the loan. If there is an option you can only take it up during the loan window in January.

I don't think that is the case at all. The midfield were starting to tire in the last 10 minutes and it needed some fresh legs, both Bjarnasson and McGinn still had a bit of energy and had done well breaking up the play all game. The substition is one we needed to make on Saturday, but is also a substition Bruce wouldn't have made previously. I've seen a lot of people on Twitter slating Grealish for his recent performances, saying we should have sold him whilst we had the chance. He will come good. He's being playing in a poorly setup side, Saturday's overall performance was a marked improvement and with more time with the squad we will see everyone start to put in better performances, Grealish included.

He was poor on Saturday, he didn't track back to help out Hutton at all and waited for the ball to come to him instead of moving for it. On the ball he is normally very good and showed glimpses of it at times, but for this team to work they need to be hardworking and Bolasie currently isn't.

So a player having a good game doesn't change your opinion on him? He's had a poor start but will now begin to improve with a settled back four in front of him. Are you going to hold the first two months of his Villa career against him?

I can't believe some of the comments I have read after today's game. Granted we are not the finished product, but from recent performances and today's performance it was like night and day. From the off today we have played football out from the back with an intent to keep possession. I can count the long balls on one hand there were that few. For Smith to implement those changes in a week of training with half a squad is absolutely superb. Give him some more time to work with them properly and we could begin to see something special here. Second half we were always going to drop off the pace a bit as Swansea counteracted what we were doing, that will be fixed in time. The performance and the result were both better than I expected and I can't see how anyone can have any complaints. Nyland was great in goal. both him and Taylor looked to have an instant boost of confidence today. McGinn was superb, absolutely immense in every aspect of his game. He will be a massive miss on Tuesday.

Unfortunately Gabby gave up on Villa a few seasons before Bruce came in. Sorry to hear about your mum mate.

I was heartbroken with the way he treated the club. How can anyone feel sorry for a professional football who played for his boyhood club yet went missing in the season they were relegated? Look at the state of him during our relegation season. This guy was being paid £50,000 per week at the time the club needed him the most.

Agreed. It's the Twitter and Forum keyboard warriors that turn the quickest on managers. It happened on here last season where people were against Bruce even when we were in the top 6. I go home and away and it's only been the last 4-5 games where the fans have started turning, yet even up until Bristol City the away fans were divided between getting behind the team and rallying against the manager. Personally I think Smith will get a 1-2 months grace here before the fans start worrying about results. I also don't think he will need it with his and his teams tactical ideas combined with the first team we have. Just playing players in their correct positions for a start will help!