Villarocker

Come on TRO, that's not fair! We all know that big Sam has a tactic - HOOF!

When he had that health scare earlier in the season you would hope that Jack took time to reflect on how fortunate he is to be in the position he is in with regards to his ability and his career. Hopefully, he will go on to fulfil that potential we all thought he had and be the player we think he is.

I have to say, despite the fact I have yet to be convinced I would like him as manager in the Premier League, Bruce has certainly changed things around. That team showed fight and spirit last night and we never looked in danger of being steam-rollered like we used to. I actually enjoyed some of the football we played too and it wasn't the hoofball that many suggest we play. Bruce is winning me over and if the players keep playing like they did second half, coupled with a couple of fresh faces in January and getting a few injured players back, I think we will be right up there in the mix until the very end of the season. The top two have to have a blip at some point and we need to make sure we are in a position to take advantage and, right now, Bruce has my faith in him to get us there.

I've not really had much to say about Whelan since he has been here but thought the need to give him a mention tonight as I thought he had a cracking game tonight.

Gutted to learn of this sad news. I knew Jimmy Mac from my first ever job. When I left school in 1988 I went to work in a Fishmonger's shop in Erdington. It was owned and run by an ex British amateur boxing Champ named Johnny Kidd (he claimed Johnny Kidd and the pirates were named after him) and he was from Aberdeen. He knew Jimmy Mac from living here in Brum and Jimmy used to come into the shop every week to get some fish and chat about a bit of everything but mainly football and boxing. Jimmy used to tell me stories about how the Villa coaching staff would teach the players how to nobble opponents fairly and would show me the old tricks he knew. He was completely bow-legged from the knocks he took to his knees as a pro. A really genuine nice guy with a typical Scottish funny story to tell and a great sense of humour. I remember once, Nigel Callaghan and Kent Neilsen came into the shop after training and Jimmy was talking to them about when he used to play for the club and they exchanged detail of training methods and how things have changed over the years. I bought a book at the time, a complete history of every player that ever played for Villa. I sent it off to Bodymoor Heath and all of the players and Graham Taylor signed it. I took it into work and Jimmy signed it for me on the inside cover. I have often wondered how he was and if he was still alive. RIP Jimmy - it was an absolute pleasure to have known you mate!

Welcome back Jack! Great sub appearance tonight. Keep it going now and show us you are the player we all hope (know?) you can be.

This guy was great tonight. Solid in the tackle and had Alioski in his pocket to the point he switched wings most of the second half. Aimed a couple of loose passes and had that one decent chance to put a cross in that went over the bar but defensively he was rock solid. I think it's fair to say that the Coleman challenge hasn't deterred him from putting a tackle in!

I thought he was our best centre back last season but he looks even better this season. Maybe playing alongside John Terry has something to do with that? Immense tonight and MOTM for me.

I was not as disappointed with that first half as many others seem to be. OK they scored but they didn't create too much and if Davis and Onomah had just held on to the ball a bit better, or released it smarter or quicker, we could have had a few great counter opportunities. Bruce's changes were spot on and he obviously gave them a rollicking at half time because they came out second half with much more purpose and drive about them. I said earlier today that, regardless of the result, I wanted to see us give a good account of ourselves. In recent years I would have expected Leeds to have gone on to win by 2 or 3 after taking the lead but not tonight. I felt that we would get something out of it even after going a goal behind and even when they pressed a bit at the end I still felt comfortable that we would get at least a point. I'm proud of the team tonight and happy with the result. Praise needs to go to Bruce for adding a bit of steel and fight to them as I was proud of the way they got stuck into Leeds in that second half.

Thought the same! Hourihane was anonymous and Lansbury did a lot more in the shorter time he was on.

Was by far our worst player. He just kept passing the ball straight to them or straight out of play. Also, he missed a couple of chances at least to counter by dallying on the ball and getting tackled. Like others have said, he needs dropping and I'm guessing it will be Lansbury or Grealish that get the nod against Millwall although, I'd like to see O'Hare given a game.

The trouble with Villa in recent times is they sucker you into thinking they can be trusted to get a result and then they go and screw it up. My heart says to trust them and that they will come away with at least a point tonight and show everyone they are the real deal for a promotion challenge but, my head says that they will go there and not show up for the "big" occasion and get beat 2 or 3 nil. I just hope that, whatever the result, we give a good account of ourselves and don't perform in a way that gives others hope and knocks our confidence.

Anyone know how many assists he has this season?

That's what I was alluding to in an earlier post. Santo said in his post match interview something like he felt they played entertaining football when winning on Saturday and, that is what the fans come to see. I think Wolves have themselves a manager that wants to more than just win games - he wants to entertain the fans too.

I think that the style of football - the way we are winning - is what bothers people. I don't think anyone denies that Bruce is getting us the results we crave and, let's face it, we are only two points off the two points per game target that he set out for us early in the season. Bruce is doing very well in that respect. Still, people want more - I want more! I think people would like to see us win with a bit of style and more comfortably, rather than by grinding out victories, if only once every now and then. I think the attendances show that too. If we were playing the kind of football Wolves play and was in our current position, there would be calls for the upper Trinity to be opened for each home game. We would surely be getting 36k plus each home game if we were not grinding out wins and playing an open, more attractive, style of football. Having said that, it's a results business and right now Bruce is getting the job done.

We're only two points off the two points per game target Bruce has alluded to previously this season. I think that getting to 92 points will probably see us go up automatically so we really need to keep this run going now. Win the next two games and we will be bang on the two points per game target. Come on lads - don't let us down!

There is one stand-out thing for me and that is we are fielding pretty much the same team every week. We haven't managed to do that for a very long time and maybe that has a lot to do with results at the moment. Must be a positive!

Great ball for the second goal. Bern ages since we had constant threats down both wings!

He's this season's Kodjia for us AND he is occupying the left side attack position, the same position where Kodjia was scoring his goals from last season. Coincidence?

Christopher Samba will be the first name in Bruce's mind to cover our striker shortage!

Is this possible with our manager? I view our set-up as one that goes out to be tight and compact and hit on the break. With Terry missing I can't help but think Bruce will keep the midfield even closer to the back four and I fear this will limit our scoring chances. It will be no surprise to me if we see a few matches where we draw 0-0 or lose 1-0, 2-0 in the forthcoming games. Of course, I hope this doesn't happen and we win a decent few and sustain our challenge at the top end of the league. It's just that the past 12 months, together with the injuries we have to key players, do not fill me with any great expectations.

With our best defender (best player JT?) playing, we tried to keep it tight against Wolves and were out-played and still managed to concede two goals. Against the better teams, and we are looking at facing several of those soon without JT in the team, we will probably concede so what's the point in trying to keep it tight? We will be better off trying to out-score our opponents' because I simply cannot see us shutting out the better sides, particularly without our Captain and best defender. Bruce needs to grow a pair and go for it. Surely people would rather watch that kind of football than turgid batten-down-the-hatches football that ends up in defeat or bore draws?

He's only talking of getting a check-up, dude!

We have improved our forward line no end but until our manager realises he needs to let them attack more we won't get full use out of them. Because of that, I simply cannot see us improve much on last season's finishing position. Maybe as high as 8th but probably around 10th. Wolves, Sheff Utd, Cardiff, Bristol City, Leeds, 'Boro, Derby, Brentford, Sheff Weds, Forest could all easily finish above us. Reading are showing signs of recovery too! We have a good starting eleven and decent back up in certain areas but I fear this key area, where we will have Samba, Jedinak or someone else not seemingly adequate enough, will cover our leader and best defender for several weeks, is going to cost us dearly. We could lose 4 out of 7 and be outside of the play offs by a couple of wins - that's how tight it is.

With the defensive cover options being so weak, is it now time to put the emphasis on attack?