Well, not from much from me. Fell on my hand, makes typing hard.

So. Tanned. Rested. Ready. Come on, lads. Let’s get something out of this.

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John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.

Comments 110

  8. Mark King

    Unreal could have been 3 up and probably 3 down. I do not like the stand and watch when your players under pressure habit we have. Oh well heres hoping they brighten up second half.

  9. John Clark

    RichardS,

    Yeah, they do…I think it would be different with Mings. Asking a lot to have Engels anchoring Konsa and Hause. Not played that central role, and doesn’t have Mings’ speed.

  12. VillaMD

    Spurs look like they’ll score on every counterattack. We have no pace in central defence. We need the Man U lad from last season.

    Great game though, Grealish is immense

  22. Mark King

    JC- my guts gutted. At the end of the day to many of ours reacted not pre-empting and When Spurs got the ball they came alive looking for and making options. We for some bizarre reason look for a shirt, any shirt, whether the pass is on or not.

    For me we can’t play DD as to slow but Nakamba to nervous on the ball. Can’t believe how slow DD is, its like whelan in a wig but without the positioning.

    Trez needs a kicking for not putting Luis in, there are no words for what he did. If you could wire up players brains and install a decision switch I’d gladly vote for it.

  23. VillaMD

    Our 3 center backs are not good enough. Even Konsa looks poor. What a difference if we had Mings and Tuanzebe.

    Drinkwater was better, but not sure if we can afford to include him when he’s 70% fit

  24. Villalore

    MK – I felt Nakamba was much better defending than DD who always hesitates and causes pressure on the back line.

    What a player Samatta is, holds the ball up, picks his pass, just needs a goal

  25. VillaMD

    On a positive

    Reina is great, both full backs very good. Douglas, Samatta and ElGhazi very good. Jack – best player to ever wear a Villa shirt. It’s an honour to watch him.

    Reportd the SJM will be back in 2 weeks

    Anyway, need some booze to forget about that loss. Painful

  26. John Clark

    MK,

    Yeah, it’s hard to put in words. With Mings, Konsa and Hause stand a chance, since Tyrone can cover most anything. He’d get there for the ball Engels takes the penalty for.

    So many nerves, poor decisions. We did a lot right, and undid it all.

  29. Paul Whiting

    50 goals shipped. Lloris had nothing to do whereas Reina had plenty.

    You can kid yourself it was close, but it wasn’t. The useless Smith continues to play Drinkwater who turns slower than rotten milk. Engels last appeared when he cost us the Saints game.

    15 more points needed from 12 games. It ain’t happening

  31. Mark King

    Well done PW a whole post without a smidgen of positivity, one of your best 🙂 Lloris made 3 saves one with his face actually , obviously Reina was busier today made 7, at least we didn’t have Newcastles day 4-0 as I type and they can defend apparently, silver linings eh.

  32. RichardS

    I am really upset by the result today

    A calamitous mistake at the end to hand Spurs the points.

    We just do not learn from our mistakes.

    Dougie scores at 1-0 and it is game over.

    The PL is so incredibly tough. We get punished for every mistake we make. This has been the story of our season.

    This team is incredibly naive.

    I watched Norwich last night and they played great football but they lost. They have played good football all season but they have lost.

    Just like us. We have competed in games all season – but lost games from a winning position.

    There is an inevitably about our demise in this division.

    It is incredibly upsetting.

  33. RichardS

    I really don’t like being critical if Villa players and I don’t know how to articulate this but can I just say that Danny Drinkwater you are absolutely fucking shit and I find it incredulous that you are earning 110k per week you absolute liability. Surely your number 1 priority is to be match fit. It’s absolutely embarrassing watching you in a Villa shirt please fuck off back to Chelsea

  36. IanG

    RichardS
    Yes, he seems to be taking a long time getting match fit, hopefully SJM will be back soonest.
    Other than that – %^&*()_!@£$%^&U*I^!!!

  38. RichardS

    John C – please try and make sense of what happened again – shades of the Arsenal Game or even the First game we played against Tottenham

    How can we keep making the same mistakes.

    It was always going to be difficult without Mings

    Engles is sooo slow.

    My 15 year old son was screaming at Drinkwater from the first minute

    I don’t like to pick on one player but he was abysmal – we cannot give him 10 games go get fit. This is the end game FFS. Every game is massive

    He should have started Marvelous

    Dean Smith has to wise up.

    We could have gone to two Centre backs and put 5 across the middle.
    Dominated midfield.

    Put Jack back into the centre of midfield

    Let’s be honest – he is all we have. We have spent all that money.

    The trouble is Trezeguet is not performing – why take off AEG?

    I don’t know why he took off Samatta- the new guy looked useless. Again unfit.

    I could go on – what is the point.

  39. Jonny Wood

    We take our chances in the first 30 mins and we win the game and stay up…
    Played Spurs off the park playing aggressive, skillful football…
    No VAR for the possible handball for a pen for us…
    No one followed up the Pepe pen save… So lazy!!
    So typical Villa to lose it like that…
    Bet Jack can’t wait to go and play for a proper Club…
    He’s too good for this country!!!

  40. John Clark

    RichardS,

    Well, I think Jonny (good to see you) is right about taking our chances. We started well.

    At the back, I think it’s just young guys, which is why Mings is so important. They dally, panic…I’m sure they were nervy without Tyrone to steady them a bit. Engels? I just don’t know. They’ve got the athletic qualities, Konsa and Hause, to do a good enough job, but they’re really feeling it, and maybe more so in a 3-4-3.

    Think of it this way…Tyrone is faster, wouldn’t have given up the pen, likely would’ve cleaned up a lot more. And he wouldn’t have made the fatal error. And at the end, 93mins, all square, that’s what it came down to. Ghazi shooting straight at Loris, Luiz somehow hitting bodies, Trez not passing to Luiz. To be fair, Engels did score, but Smith would never have wanted him out there today.

    The Drinkwater decision? Questionable, yeah, but I don’t think it cost us the game. We should probably have just played for the point, but we kept attacking. Love the spirit, but the point would’ve felt pretty good.

  41. Mark King

    Not sure that DD is that unfit per se just slow as fook. I think one of the commentators said he never has been athletic. I think Smith wants him to hit players quickly and dictate play as at least he is switched on when he has the ball, he’s just so slow. Luis seems to be taking on the McGinn running with the ball role but There is zero cover for the Defence. Seems like wishful thinking from Mr Smith.

    Wish Samatta was fit enough to stay on I presume he wasn’t and he did put a shift in. He is a class player with guts and vision.

    Trez for all his faults was involved in all our chances when he came on.

    Nakamba , Great tackles when he came on and the odd run but even when stood in our six yard box will pass the ball 3 yards to someone else, so frustrating. even so he has to start you’d think.

    That said We probably should of been more than 1 up, should definitely defended better and we lack control outside of Jack and Samatta. Actually thought the defence when in possession were decent, its the without the ball they fall down.

    PW- really? Frem is depressed if we don’t sign 3 wingers a window, he’s not at your level of anger yet. I have defended both you and Frem over the years so cheer up it will even itself out.

  42. Plug

    That was a kick in the nuts. I’m gutted. We can’t keep shipping goals. If we do, we will be relegated. Spurs were there for the taking yesterday. The team stands or falls as a group. But they really do need to start backing up Jack as he is carrying us at the moment.

    I am happy with 3 at the back, but the midfield needs to be crowded. Otherwise the opposition will fillet us. DS needs to rethink his 3-4-3. Maybe 3-6-1 against the top teams. We need points. Still need 4 more wins minimum.

  43. Heroes-and-Villans

    we have been open and soft all season at the back…its not going to change now! we tried 3 at the back but still let the other teams come at us so easy. Its not just a defence thing its the team as a unit. We can literally be in possession looking good in there final third but 3 passes later the other team will be 1 v1 at us! its madness.

  44. RichardS

    John
    I agree with all of your comments. We dominated possession yesterday and had more passes than Tottenham

    We missed our crucial chances – Dougie has to score

    However – Spurs had more clear cut chances than us. We have conceded 50 goals and we are far to open

    This is where Smith needs yo wise up. This cannot continue.

    I would like to see Jack back in the middle where he can play the true playmaker role

    Dougie and Marvellous can do the running and tackling.

    AEG and Trez out wide. Samatta makes the runs and looks lively.

    Davis should be back soon to give is more of a physical presence up front

    We have to get Smarter and defend better

    Reina has been great and was clearly furious yesterday with his defence

    Jack was exasperated yesterday at the final whistle.

    I will be crying if we let Man UTD take him at the end of the season – reminds me of Yorke and Young. We will never improve if we sell our best players.

  45. Heroes-and-Villans

    drinkwater must never play for us again. what a disaster of a signing. Hourihan must be fuming. please come back soon super john mcguinn.

    samma goal. what as signing he looks fingers crossed. runs the channels, holds the ball up. uses it well. nice pace. Just need to create more chances for him. I love luiz too. He is going to the very top. 21 years old!

  48. VillaMD

    Spurs played a lot of balls over thd top for Son to run on to….it seemed like we could never figure this out. There was too much mickey mouse passing when Spurs had the high press on us. Play the ball out when u have time, but if under pressure hoof it out. DD and Hause both gave up simply chances for Spurs to score by overplaying and losing the ball under pressure.

    It may not be a bad idea to have 5 in midfield as RichardS suggested. Let JT earn his wages on the training ground this week.

  49. VillaMD

    For 2 of the goals conceded, Engels gave away the penalty and the mistake at the end. Why play a 6ft5in center back with no pace and very little ball playing skills against a very small but pacey Spurs attack….is that not asking for trouble?

    Surely this is very poor management by putting Engels into a lineup where it did not suit his game.

  51. RichardS

    Time to move on guys. We lost. Let’s get over it.

    I made some truly regretful comments yesterday about a Villa player. I apologize to everyone for that. I will not do that again.

    Let’s get rid of this toxic negativity

    I still believe we will stay up.

    And let’s not forget we have a CUP FINAL to look forward to. AWESOME

    I love this football club.

    We have Class.

    The Wonderful

    The Magnificent

    Aston Villa

    Benjamin Z.

  53. RichardS

    Mark – there is too much negativity in the world. Football is supposed to be enjoyable – passionate – entertaining – an escape.

    We all come on here to vent our frustrations.

    It is easy to be critical.

    Let’s just keep it respectful and positive moving forward.

    Life is tough. Football doesn’t have to be.

    Let’s enjoy the ride.

  54. Mark King

    RichardS- Agreed lifes to polarised today, would love to forget political correctness, we used to have this thing called Manners and a sense of humour.

    For instance, very sad that Caroline Flack felt she had no other option but now there is a massive push to destroy the Sun newspaper pursued with the same fervour and by a lot of the people that did worse on Twitter. You could not write it yet they do.

    The Sun are no saints but if nobody was interested they would not write such crap. Add to that 6,000 a year go unnoticed that kill themselves and not a complaint in sight, obviously never been on tele. Its just grab pitchfork and burning torch, rinse and repeat, forgotten by next Monday.

    rant over

  55. RichardS

    Mark

    Absolutely. It is very sad the individuals take their own life’s because of toxic behaviour and media/social media abuse.

    We all have license to provide commentary because of the freedom of social media.

    This site is great because we all get the opportunity to unleash and off load our frustrations when we lose.

    And share our positive emotions when we win.

    Moving forward we can all be more positive- even when the result has not gone our way.

    No need to be toxic or aggressive or negative.

    Football is just a game.

  56. r0bb0

    Wow that was hard to take. That was one of those moments that will taunt Engels for years to come . . . . just horrible.
    Everyone felt for him, particularly as he’d played pretty well for the rest of the game (it was still inexcusable though!)
    We’re all feeling the tension because the games are running out but if we’d played like that at the start of the season we’d actually be feeling pretty optimistic now.

  58. RichardS

    Well said Robbo

    All we can do is offer our support to Engels and the rest of the players.

    We need to stick with the team and show unity. Demonstrate or support for the club. Laugh in the face of adversity. Support the boys.

    West Ham fans have already turned against their board and team. They have become toxic. They will self implode. We have to avoid this situation.

    We can stay up for sure.

  59. Paul Pears

    Well, made it to Gloucester on Saturday for my daughter’s 30th birthday party, had a great time and then stayed overnight in a Travelodge in the Quays, enjoying the customary Burger King, washed down with a few pints of Stella Artois!
    Following morning, in my determination, drove to the Aston Tavern to find no-one about much, so stopped a guy working for Sky, who said that the match could be in the balance, but a decision would be made shortly, so became the first customer of the day and ordered a pint of Doombar and settled in until there was more news.
    Fortunately, although there were many transport problems, the match went ahead with an amazing crowd of 41,836 people, who made the effort to get there.

    What an amazing game we were treated to, with Villa on the front foot to start and could have been at least a couple of goals up if we were more clinical in front of goal, and if we got our strikers to make sure that they got the right side of defenders at near post situations.

    There was plenty to encourage the fans, and we were unlucky to concede two goals, the first was such a narrow angle, and could Reina covered it better. The penalty decision was a close call, and without VAR, would never have been awarded. Reina saved it, but why oh why, has JT not got our defence organised to be able to defend the rebound. Absolutely shocking to be just stood as spectators watching the kick.

    Second half, what a roar when Engels heads the equaliser, match on and Villa give as good as they get, Jack never stops grafting, and Somatta is still a constant threat to the Spurs defence, ably assisted by AEG, then come the substitutions , Drinkwater understandable, and Marvellous soon settles in, maybe the Trezeguet substitution for El Ghazi was not a good move, and certainly no way should Somatta have been replaced with just ten minutes to go, but Dean thought he was doing right and looking for a winner.

    90 minutes up and the clock has almost run down the 4 minutes, and the ball ends up with the most experienced goalkeeper in the Premiership with the opportunity of taking a risky quick clearance with the belief that Villa can recreate a final wonder goal, as they did against Leicester, but this is not a cup match, and Spurs have a strong defensive position, so the wise thing would have been to hold the ball, bouncing it around, inviting Spurs to come and challenge him for it, and the final whistle blowing, even if he eventually booted it into the stands…

    Engels shouldn’t be blamed for slipping on a very wet surface, could have happened to anyone. Reina is the Champions league experienced player. He may have been MOM for many, but at the end he cost us the point, and would Nyland have dealt better with the goals, as I think Nyland would have given better cover for the first goal, and been in a better position to prevent the need for Engels to give away the penalty.

    No worries, at the end of the day it was a great game of football that was worth being there to see.

    I almost made it home to Mid-Wales, but Dennis beat me, and I had to rely on another Travelodge near Ludlow, so glad I still had some beer, wine and food left over….and some birthday cake..!!

    We fight on to the end. We are the Villa and we will never give up or give in.

    Feel Somatta is going to be a new star for the fans and join Jack, JM and Tyrone to pull us through at the death.

  60. Frem

    Still can’t believe Sunday. Its furious how bad we are at holding onto results Arsenal, Liverpool we should have both beat, we should have drew Sunday.

    How tactically poor Smith is showing him self to be. Why play such a high line so late on? Suicidal

    Our midfield is dire, defensively. What does Luiz do?

    It’s time for a change of manager. We can’t go down

    One positive Sammata. He can move #avfc

  62. Paul Pears

    Do you feel it is time for Terry to take over from Dean then, Frem?

    Otherwise, we may lose Terry to Chelski soon……

    June Mynard on the All things claret and blue blog, reckons that Dean and Terry seem to have the odd spat now and again about tactics. I am not usually interested in what Jermaine Jenas has to say, but he was spot on with his thoughts on Villa on Sunday night, and our tactics, lack of defensive sense and failure to shut down Spurs counter attacks.

  64. Paul Pears

    I wonder if any one actually sees any of the posts I occasionally put on here??

    I made comments on Somatta, and just how good he is, especially on Sunday…..

    I also challenged about who was really to blame for our loss on Sunday…..thought it might inspire some comment…………….

    I also agree about why Smith is not using Connor to replace Drinkwater, in fact, Lansbury, or Hourihane would be an improvement….

  65. Mark King

    PP- see it? I’m not even half way through it yet got stuck at the bar 🙂

    Been at work so no time to comment, in the end you could blame a few, the new Striker wasisface dropped deep and got in Luis’s way instead of staying up field and that ended up as a through ball rather than us winning the header.

  67. RichardS

    Frem – seriously, you want to change a manager now? For who?

    Smith will keeo us up for sure

    Reasons to be positive.

    Mings will be back this weekend

    Konsa and Courtney look so much better with Mings

    Reina is immense and showing great passion and experience

    Samatta looks impressive – he will score on Saturday

    Target is getting better and better every game

    Dougie looks ace

    Marvellous is up to speed and works hard

    Freddy links well with AEG – i really like these guys

    And Super Jack is the best player in the Premier League.

  68. r0bb0

    Frem are you truly suggesting that we should replace Dean Smith?

    1) more teams that replace their managers go down than stay up

    2) fourteen !! changes of manager over the last ten years didn’t exactly bring us success did they., but hey let’s roll the dice again eh??

    3) After Mcleish, Lambert, and Bruce fans have been crying out for a manager who will entertain us . . . and we’ve found him

    4) Dean Smith is a Villa fan; he got us promoted a year ahead of schedule and deserves some loyalty.

    i know fans can be fickle but suggesting he should be replaced because things aren’t going as well as you’d hope is both wrong headed and thoroughly disloyal

  69. Mark King

    RichardS- You forgot Targetts teary return to his old club up next on sat, although it didn’t help him much at our place.

    I hate Son, barsteward scored two and so in my Fantasy team he went, wanker broke his arm against us and still managed to beat us. Could of mentioned it before I bought the tosser.

  70. RichardS

    Robbo – exactly. Well said. We are not or should not replace Smith now – that would be asinine.

    We are in the end game now.

    It is absolutely pointless criticizing the manager or the players or the tactics or the team selection or VAR or the opposition.

    All we can do now is support the team and enjoy the ride.

    It is like life. We are all in until the end. So we may as well be positive and support the team until we understand our fate.

    Personally- i believe we will stay in the division.

  73. RichardS

    Frem – absolutely nothing blind about my faith- my eyes are wide open

    And I will support the players and the manager until the final whistle at the end of the season.

    The power of positivity can keep us in this division.

    If we create a wave of positive emotion at home the universe will reward us.

    We can all admire the sheer brilliance of Jack Grealish

    Mings is coming back and he is awesome

    And then Super John McGinn.

    And we now have Reina whose distribution and shot saving skills are Epic

    Target is also looking fabulous

    And Samatta Goal is about to start firing

    I actually like the players.

    And I like Dean Smith

    Aston Villa are Magnificent

    Let’s keep toxicity and negativity away from Villa Park

    If you look at the possession stats and passing stats we actually outplayed Spurs

    We just need to make a few minor tactical adjustments to the playing performance and we will get the results and points we need.

    And I am looking forward to a CUP FINAL at Wembley. How AWESOME is that.

    Enjoy the ride Frem.

  74. Heroes-and-Villans

    16 months ago if someone said we would be in the prem let alone out the drop zone and in a cup final youd be carted off to the hospital! staggering!

    Richard S you forgot super john mcguinn back training on grass today!

  76. RichardS

    Heroes – you have made my day – that will give the whole team a massive lift.

    Super John will help ensure our Premier League status. And hopefully convince Jack to stay

    If that doesn’t cheer Fem up I don’t know what will.

    I wonder if he will make a cameo appearance at the Cup Final?

  78. runtings

    blessings lifers

    I am glad there is a lot of positivity going around about the club despite the battle we were bound to face coming up and imo too early simply because we had an aging squad and the last it of the bomb squad .. remember them ?
    17 players later a big step up injuries to deal with and all that comes with that we are well in with a fighting chance

    ffp hasn’t helped either because we could have gone for more quality in areas if we wasn’t restricted with what we are allowed to spend

    its also the first in a very long time that I have enjoyed watching the team during many games since the ginger Mourinho took charge
    Call me a happy clapper as I am happy with deano and our so far super amazing board and its all a far cry from the days of villa blog to the exodus of the sensible folk to avl as we were ran really badly and for me had managers and players that should only have entered the building as visitors

    I will add to the call to get behind the villa and add us much strength self belief and effort to the club for the battles ahead .. were are staying up vtid

  80. r0bb0

    Runtimes, thanks for more positivity and good points, particularly about Dean Smith being too successful too quickly.

    Frem, as Richard said, there’s no blind faith in Villa fans support for Dean Smith. We’re consistently enjoying watch our team play for the first time in ages. Aren’t you?
    You’re right that we ‘may’ get relegated this year, but if we were to try and replace him, now THAT would require blind faith that we’d do better (particularly bearing in mind that we’ve done worse in our previous 14 managerial changes)

  81. RichardS

    Runtings
    Absolutely- well said. I am enjoying watching Villa play too.

    And Man City have just scored against West Ham – yay

    We are def staying up for sure. I believe the team have faith and confidence in what we are doing. We are playing decent football. We had more passes and more possession against Spurs who played in the champions league final last year.

    We have suffered from terrible injury problems this season. And we still try and play decent football.

    God Bless Aston Villa.

    WE HAVE CLASS

  83. Plug

    There’s so much positivity around I’ve broken out in a rash. So time for some smelling salts perhaps? This lifer believes we still need 4 more wins. Doable? Certainly. Likely? Look at the Bookies odds.

  84. RichardS

    Plug – Absolutely – this wave of positive energy will ensure we get enough points to climb the table.

    As Mighty Jack Grealish says – we all stick together and we go again on Saturday.

    We played some super football against Spurs and we are more than capable of beating Southampton.

    I can only see us getting stronger as the season continues.

    Support the team – pass on our positive emotions and good things will happen.

  87. RichardS

    Plug – I believe there will be a huge reaction from the players against Southampton

    I know we are going to win the game.

    It’s my birthday today and off all the wonderful gifts I received – my children bought me a new Aston Villa shirt. I was overwhelmed with emotion. A beautiful present that will give me immense joy wearing at the Cup Final. Walking down Wembley Way wearing the famous Claret and Blue standing next to my Villa Brothers.

    Happy Days

  88. Mark King

    RichardS- Happy birthday mate, I think you should contact the team there is still time for you to walk out holding jacks hand in your new shirt on Saturday. If not mug one of the mascots and stoop.

    IanG- no way can you have enough Corana dandelion and burdock can sustain life indefinitely, well I’m still alive.

  89. Paul Pears

    Oh MK, what have you done?

    Dandelion and Burdock …. Such wonderful childhood memories.

    Only improved by getting your hands on Dad’s beer at home deliveries from Davenport’s.

  90. RichardS

    Mark – I would love that – the chance to meet the greatest player in the league. He truly is a footballing sensation.

    Thx for the birthday wishes – truly appreciated.

  91. IanG

    PP
    Every time I’m off this island, & spy a corona bottle, it’s full of very nice strong beer.
    It’s a deep connection to Dandelion Burdock & the cloudy lemonade that has bits in it, with a happy ending.

  93. Mark King

    RichardS- I hope you have a massive pension set up as you are going to live forever.

    “Optimism has now been linked with a variety of health benefits, including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (the number one killer in the industrialised world) and other chronic diseases.
    It also contributes to what researchers call “exceptional longevity”—living past 85 years of age.
    In fact, in a recent meta-analysis of 15 studies with almost 230,000 participants, optimism was associated with a 35 percent reduction in cardiovascular events and a 14 percent reduction in all-cause mortality.
    This is well beyond the results that can be obtained by statin drugs (and any other drug) for the vast majority of people.”

    I reckon I’m in with a shout as my Nan could be a miserable old bugger and loved a bit of shit stirring, she made it to 89. If she had been a bit more optimistic who knows when I would of inherited her best china and the tins of red salmon in the cupboard.

  94. RichardS

    John Clark – Thx for the birthday wishes – truly appreciated.

    Mark – Thx for wishing me a long and prosperous life. I should top up my pension pot for sure.

    I am beyond optimistic about staying in the Premier League – I am confident. Sure it will be a tough game against Southampton and we will need to start the game better than we did against Bournemouth.

    However, there are some wonderful relationships developing on the pitch between Jack and Targett and AEG and Guilbert.

    Mings is back – Samatta has settled and looks super energetic

    Reina looks passionate – composed and super cool in goal.

    We are going to win the weekend – I am telling you.

  97. IanG

    Mark
    No can’t get it, they seem to have cancelled my membership on the changeover.
    Samatta at 27 is a grown up compared to most of the team, & he seems to have a lot of strings to his bow.
    GENUINE POTENTIAL I THINK.

  101. Paul Pears

    Frem,

    Cannot even want to contemplate. Today has to be positive, as we just cannot lose, and team, manager and fans have to have such a positive mental attitude.

    Samatta will be the difference today, combining with Jack and AEG. If Dean keeps the faith with Drinkwater, which seems to be his intention, then it needs to be the day he comes good. If not, and Marvellous plays, may he complete his connection with Ally.

    IanG,
    I had trouble connecting with AVTV, or Villa TV, as it is now called, and eventually discovered that I had to sign in with my ticket office ID, which is another ID in addition to logging into the official site. All very complex….Grrrr!!

    I still have reservations about Reina, although everyone else raves about him, but I still know he cost us the game with Spurs. He is a good shot stopper and ball distributor, but what I saw in Nyland, was far more agility, the ability to make great saves through his positional sense, additional height and taking crosses that Reina tends to leave to his centre backs.
    Still believe we would have come away with an all important draw against Spurs if he had held the ball up rather than hoping for that last minute wonder goal.

  102. RichardS

    Frem. Don’t let fear be the driver of your negativity.

    Try this. What happens when we play fantastic football led by the best player in the Premier League- Super Jack Grealish and we win today.

    I tell you what happens – we move onwards and upwards.

    Step into the light brother. I am sending you a big digital hug of positivity and enthusiasm.

    Come on you beautiful Aston Villa boys.

  103. RichardS

    Paul Pears – positive mental attitude – love that.

    And we win 1-3 today- with Samatta Goal scoring 2 and Jack scores a worldy.

    Drinkys pass success was 91 per cent against Spurs – and he has been working super hard on his fitness.

  104. John Clark

    Just getting a page together for Southampton, but interesting take, PP.

    (also, I very much appreciate your post-match impressions).

    I don’t disagree that trying to run the clock down and take a point might’ve been the thing to do.

    Don’t disagree that fighting to the last second for a winner can be the right way to think and play.

  105. John Clark

    Only way to look at it RichardS.

    The thing about Drinkwater, Smith’s comments, were interesting. I thought DD was doing a lot right in terms of positioning and distribution. As noted, it’s without the ball that he’s struggling for pace. Dean should know by now from training whether he actually has that step, or can make up for it positionally, or whether it’s just gone. If Dean’s betting on him, you’d like to think he has it, somewhere.

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