Villarocker

I read in another thread that VAR has cost us loads. I thought "everyone can say that, though". So, with that in mind, is there anywhere that shows how many points VAR has cost clubs in the Premier League this season?

Winkers is better. Come to think of it, I've always thought of Liverpool as a bunch of winkers

I was just thinking back to that summer interview with Purslow and Smith. Purslow hardly let Smith do any talking and with all that's gone on since it makes me wonder, is Smith simply a "yes man". If so, he was an easy target for the money men as being a Villa fan they always had a man willing to do whatever they wanted. Could you imagine someone like Benitez putting up with having no strikers for 3 weeks going into our most important games of the New Year? I'm sure he'd more outspoken than Smith has been.

If there's any possibility of getting Nzonzi we simply have to do so. But, the main problem, which for most of us existed before the season started, is that we need another striker. With Kodjia going, we need two of them. I know it's an awkward time of year to do deals but to get to the 20th of January and not bring anyone in is criminal of the deal-brokers. They are letting games go by that we need to win. Waiting might be good financially but it might be damaging to the cause of staying up. Do we not have any cash spare at all?

In another era David Unsworth's wife was spotted there too!

For me that's the best goal we've scored this season. That pass from Doug was sensational and De Bruyne-like. The finish from Jack is just mesmerising. To take it into his stride like that and finish on the half-volley with such power and, with his weaker foot, it's just a thing of total beauty.

What about playing Jack as the striker and Luiz in Jack's role, in behind him? They linked up great yesterday and Luiz is clearly better at the attacking part of the game than the defensive.

Question for all Villans, do you think that Jack could ever win a Ballon D'or? Sound crazy right? But, in a couple of years time, Messi and Ronaldo will be out of the running. If Jack was to play at Barca and they won the Champions League with Jack being their star talent, would it be possible?

Jack is an exceptional talent. It took him a few games to adjust back to the pace of the league but since then he's simply bossed it. Turning from provider to top scorer and provider who gets all over the pitch. His fitness levels are beyond belief. Every top club in every top league must be well aware of him. For me, he's not suited to how Liverpool play as they play a lot of long balls from the back and bypass the midfielders. He's way too good for Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs - he is next level! The only places I can see him is Barcelona, Real Madrid or, dare I say it, Man City. I think that Guardiola must be a huge fan. I bet he cannot believe his eyes when he sees an English midfielder scoring goals like that and playing passes through defences. A player that creates all kinds of opportunities and makes things happen in every game he plays. A player that covers every blade of grass and is fouled more than anyone else but keeps demanding that ball and carrying it forward. I see Jack has Man City's idea of the perfect replacement for David Silva and, I suspect, they will make him their main summer target. No way will Guardiola allow such a player to pass him by. If it happens, it'll be at least £100m. Personally, I'd prefer to see him carry Villa back to the top. But, if that's not possible, I'd like to see him in the Barcelona team as I think he'd be amazing for them with the way they play football.

That's a cracking post mate! This season had to be about survival despite Purslow and Smith saying, before the season started, that we wanted to more than just survive. We have had so many new faces in that it was quite obvious that they would need time to gel. I think Dean, because he loves the club so much, would honestly walk away if he felt he wasn't up to it. Yes, he's made mistakes but, he's new to the league too. Most of his coaching staff must also be new to this level so we simply have to give them time. As a fan, I'm sick of us being a laughing stock. Chopping and changing has taken us down before and so I'm in it for the long-haul and would rather go down - if it happens - with a Villa man at the helm and safe in the knowledge that the very same man was the one to take us up last time and the newest recruits will be a lot more settled. When the manager is in a weak position the players have a get-out clause if they perform badly. Everyone needs to unite behind Dean Smith and let the players know that no matter what, we still want our manager. When the manager has such power, the players have no hiding place. The prime example of that was Ferguson at Man Utd. It was perform or go. That's what Villa need now.

I agree with you. People are so keen to jump on his lack of quality but he needs to be given time to adapt to the hardest league in the world. At the very least, this guy tries is damndest to do something positive.

First time I've ever agreed with you but, even if I detested you, which I don't, I could not argue against that. Having said that, he's had a couple of starts without completing 90 minutes. Maybe, hopefully? He can come good.

Thanks for your post mate, it brought me back down to earth! I saw that picture of Louie Barry and thought "wtf does he look like. My son will never dress like that whilst I'm alive" then read your post and thought "f**k, he's right. Remember that shellsuit craze I had when I left school and going to Foster menswear in Erdington and coming out of the changing room to find my best mate had bought the exact same as me". Each to their own!

Every player on the pitch should be able to make a tackle. Otherwise, you're not a footballer.

If we had signed Reina on loan, Nzonzi on loan with view to buy, Bowen on loan with view to buy and, Callejon on loan with view to buy there's no way we would go down.

If there's any chance of getting Nzonzi they need to get it done. He's a unit and will stop opposing midfielders bearing down on our defence. Get him in on a paid for loan deal with the agreement in place to buy him at the end of the season.

Dunno, it looked a bit all over the place to me

Weren't we linked with Samatta in the summer? His he any good?

Hindsight's a wonderful thing but, imagine if we had gone in for Cahill in the summer. We could have had a centre back trip of: Engels - Mings - Cahill I doubt our defence would have leaked so many with that trio. I think we need to look for a really solid, experienced, left-footed centre back to partner Mings and Engels.

Despite the many things people are starting to beat Deano up over, I'm sure that a lot of people, the vast majority, must have some sympathy for him with the forward situation. We're facing three of our biggest rivals for survival in the next week or so and we are heading into them without firepower. Spurs have apparently done a deal to loan Gedson Fernandes. I assume that they paid a fee and will sign him permanently at the end of the season. Can Villa not do something similar? Pay say £4m or £5m now and agree to pay the rest in the summer. Let's face it, we can afford it then. Stay up and we have next seasons TV money. Go down and we'll have the money from the sales of Grealish, McGinn, Mings etc. Surely our money men can get a bit creative in order to help Deano and the lads out.

Graziano Pelle is a decent shout though! Premier League experience and cheap. He's 34 but contract has less than a year to run. A cheeky punt of £3m (the Kodjia fee?) for a player with the experience of the league we are in on a 2 year deal? Short term thing to try to keep us up?

And Kate and Gerry are as good at parenting as Tom and Jerry!

This time last year, when Villa had no centre backs, I was looking at League One for centre backs who were performing well. I looked on some site and found two names. One I can't remember and the other was Ethan Pinnock. Big, strappy lad who plays left-sided centre back and is now playing at Brentford in the Championship's best defence. Gems can be found from all over the place. Alli and Gomez were plucked from the lower leagues. Are there any strikers further down the leagues that are hitting the net regularly?

I think that quite a lot of people on here realised that, whilst the summer dealings were all exciting, we were signing players that were young, inexperienced and coming in from inferior foreign leagues. They were all a gamble. We had no other choice but to sign so many new players and then have to spend time getting them to gel together. Clearly, for whatever reason, this is taking longer than expected. Smith now finds himself in a similar situation whereby he's having to bring even more players in to bolster the squad that is now looking a bit threadbare. For me, the obvious thing he's looking for his experience - Drinkwater and Reina. However, he needs to add one or two quality players to complete Grealish at the other end of the pitch. My concern is what Smith said yesterday when quizzed about signings. He said that if he hasn't got a new striker before the next game then they simply have to just get on with it. His words seemed a bit despondent. Is it possible that we simply cannot afford to buy anyone and if a deal cannot be done we will have to go with what we've got already?

What I would like to ask is, if Terry is the defensive coach, together with having Smith and O'Kelly who also played defence, how can we so bad defensively? We are atrocious! We gifted goals today for the umpteenth time this season. Is it time to bring in some new backroom staff maybe?