Middlesbrough came calling Saturday at a rather important juncture in Villa’s season, and promised a stern test. However, Villa largely brushed Tony Pulis’ men and tactics aside to cruise to a vital 3-0 win that saw us climb back into the promotion places for the first time since something like the sixth week of the campaign. Not a bad day.
Back-to-back wins, and suddenly Villa have a viable if tenuous path to the playoffs. Whether or not we get there, there’s still nothing more satisfying in a regular-season context than doing the double on the clowns at home. Now a win at The City Ground seems rather important.
As I was getting up this morning, the missus says, “Jack is back. He’s got sort of a poncy hairdo.” I thought she was talking about my daughter’s boyfriend, Jack, and wondered where he’d been off to and what he’d done to his head. I might’ve had a bit too much to drink last night. Turns out it’s our Jack, and yes, he has a poncy hairdo. “He’s good enough he can get away with it,” I said.
Another week, another draw. I liked Deano’s appraisal, that he was angry but might see it differently with a bit of perspective. He liked the fightback, but thought the team, with a little help from the officials, had not done what was required. Me, l liked the fight. I also disliked its necessity. Good and bad things to say about the team and/or performance.
After a strong start to his reign at Aston Villa, Dean Smith has finally hit some adversity. His team have suffered consecutive 0-3 setbacks, and looked as poor as the scorelines on both occasions. Normally, people might start asking questions. But.
