Aston Villa v Chelsea Post Match Thread

[SoccerHQ]

A pity Suso's Valencia and Atleti links haven't pulled up anything yet. Instead we've sniffed around B League. Do any of our signings from Belgium share agents I wonder.

A rumour at the time was one of the signings we made from Brugge wasn't someone we actually scouted much but got offered in the deal for the player we were watching.

Only a rumour though..

[robbo1874]

For what it’s worth, I voted for Smith in the ‘who should be the next Villa manager?’ Poll. It was all on the back of what he’d done at Brentford. I didn’t even know he was one of us. By the same token I don’t judge him as a Villa fan, just what we do on the pitch, the same as Bruce and McLeish. I think after getting us up last season he earned the right to a full season in the prem. He might prove not to be good enough, but it is still in his hands to make it happen. Whilst that is still the case, he has my backing.

[brian green]

Please don't put words in my mouth Soccer HQ.  Read what I said.  It was nothing about MY choice of Smith, it was about THE choice of Smith.  I made an objective observation about how he came to be chosen not whether he should have been chosen.   You picked up on Clampy's claim that revisionists are at work judging Dean Smith.  There may well be but there is a vast difference between revisionism which by definition means reinterpretation of a decision and the ongoing reassessment of the success of a decision.  Nowhere in any walk of life are performances not subject to ongoing scrutiny.  That is not revisionism, it is the duty of any holder of authority.

[sid1964]

Having watched the 2 games if our tactics are to lump it forward and hope for the best or have 10 men standing in our penalty area, then we are not going to survive

I honestly thought that after 2 months of being able to analyse our previous games and look forward to the remaining games that Dean would have had a better plan than playing parks football to survive.

[OzVilla]

I fully expected Smith to make mistakes as was a younger, hungrier type of manager and not the seasoned pro.

I did however expect him to learn from those mistakes and adapt his style and grow into the job. It's that lack of development in the team or adaptability in the style which surprises me the most.  His best days were his first 6 games and the amazing run in last season - it's been rubbish in between.

In may ways he's been fortunate, I reckon Deadly would've pulled the trigger after Albion home last season, Watford away this season and again after the Leicester away performance.

[ROBBO]

He has gone the way of so many of our recent managers, nothing to offer but desperate defending when all else fails. I can't see the logic in keeping him on, he will not be here if we are relegated so why not give Fat Sam the rest of the season. At the very least we might get a new manager bounce out of the players, a new voice, new instructions, nothing to lose.

[robbo1874]

Well the logic is he’s got a contract and what 8 or 9 games to turn things around.

[chrisw1]

We go down we will lose a few players like Grealish, McGinn and Mings. But without FFP, financially, we get to do what the fuck we like. Which is fortunate when your owners have more money than everybody else.

I'm not sure this is true.  Aren't they still looking at spending but over two years instead of one?

I could be wrong but I don't think clubs have free rein to spend what they want.

[ChicagoLion]

We go down we will lose a few players like Grealish, McGinn and Mings. But without FFP, financially, we get to do what the fuck we like. Which is fortunate when your owners have more money than everybody else.

I'm not sure this is true.  Aren't they still looking at spending but over two years instead of one?

I could be wrong but I don't think clubs have free rein to spend what they want.

We will have the proceeds profit of Mings SJM Jack which will be a lot

[cdward]

The worst aspect of the result yesterday, is that no Villa fan thought we would win the game even after taking the lead. 
That just sums up where we are. There is an inevitability about it all.
Unless Smith shakes it up, we are going to be relegated and everyone can see it.

[chrisw1]

The worst aspect of the result yesterday, is that no Villa fan thought we would win the game even after taking the lead. 
That just sums up where we are. There is an inevitability about it all.
Unless Smith shakes it up, we are going to be relegated and everyone can see it.

This is certainly true, I was thinking 2-1 or 3-1 at half time. 

To be fair, Chelsea were bright all game.  They looked sharp from the off and they obviouly have far more quality than us.  I had hoped our midweek game would have given the us the edge, but we just kept inviting them on and allowed them to play themselves into form very quickly.  We were out gunned and outplayed.

It reminded me of a Bruce performance.  If you invite a team on for 90 minutes the chances are they are going to score.  We just couldn't retain the ball and when we did get it invariably it ended with a hopeful punt. 

I'm dissapointed with Smith and the coaching team - they had no idea of how to get us into the game.  But I don't think 3 at the back or two up front or even playing Jack in the middle will be some silver bullet.  I came to the conclusion some time ago that most the players just aren't good enough.  Our recruitment over the last two windows is nothing short of dreadful and whilst people are pointing fingers, Suso has to take a big slice of the blame.

Without Jack, McGinn & Mings, I'm not even sure we have the basis of a decent mid table Championship team.  Yes we'll have money to spend, but we've proved that is harder than it looks.

[Ian.]

The worst aspect of the result yesterday, is that no Villa fan thought we would win the game even after taking the lead.

The same could be said of the players as well, there is no self belief, it’s running right through the squad and fans alike.

[AVH87]

Brentford spent more in the summer than ever before. They've bet the farm on promotion.

Their net summer 'spend' saw them bring in 9m.

[AVH87]

We go down we will lose a few players like Grealish, McGinn and Mings. But without FFP, financially, we get to do what the fuck we like. Which is fortunate when your owners have more money than everybody else.

I'm not sure this is true.  Aren't they still looking at spending but over two years instead of one?

I could be wrong but I don't think clubs have free rein to spend what they want.

That's what I thought. FFP relaxed by UEFA, so if you are in the Prem, do what you want, but the EFL haven't said they are doing the same. Saying that, if we sell Grealish and Mings, that could fetch around £100m.

[aj2k77]

Heaton, Targett, Konsa, Engels, Luiz, El Ghazi and maybe Samatta will do well in the championship. We will need a right back, defensive mid, wide player and another centre forward to do well is my guess.

The two main reasons for going down, for me, will be the gamble on Wesley as our only forward as an untried kid in a new country, that was an abysmal decision. Then in January we used our main advantage, money, to bring in Reina, Drinkwater and another Belgian. Not good enough.