Simply not good enough

Totally agree, we have been a shambles for weeks under Dean but I agree he needs to get his own players in. Too many players we have kept on far too long at this club and kept faith in despite them being plain rubbish.

I'd tend to agree, the only ones I would keep would be:

GK
Kalinic
Sarkic
Maybe Nyland as backup

DF
Chester
Mings
Tuanzebe - but United won't sell and will prob go on loan to better next season if they loan him again

MF
McGinn
Hourihane - decent squad player, limited but playing in wrong position right now
Grealish - if we can keep him, unlikely but he's huge for us so we must demand top dollar if we have to sell

ST
Abraham - again, doubt he'll be back next season, too good and probably hugely frustrated with the team
Kodjia - can be good, very inconsistent though
Green - would like to see him given a run of games, think he'll come good and is young

Honestly that's all I'd like to see stay next season. Maybe you could make a case for El Ghazi but he has been shocking for weeks and doesn't seem interested. Adomah is too old in my view and all of our defensive midfielders and full backs have let us down time and again. Hutton should have been gone yonks ago even if he is a model pro - just isn't good enough.

The new right back will hopefully come in and do really well, that right back position is his for the taking. We need to sign a quality young left back and a proper DM (I'd like us to go for Chalobah). If we lose Grealish let's try to sign a talented young player like Mason Mount who can create. We need a much younger midfield with energy that can press, create chances and protect the defence. We must clearout a very ageing squad in the summer - that means bye bye to Whelan, Jedinak, Taylor, Hutton, Elphick, Bjarnason, Richards (why is he still here?), Elmo, and Adomah. Also, Bree and Davis don't seem good enough to me so maybe we should offload (Bree can't defend, Davis doesn't score). We really must have a clearout because we really are a poor, ageing, slow team and have far too many old players. The only older players we should keep are Chester (experience, good on the ball, still decent), Kalinic, Hourihane (butshould be rotated), and Kodjia (again, probably just squad player).

Potential team for next season:

Kalinic
Guilbert Chester Mings/Tuanzebe New LB
New DM
McGinn Grealish
Green New ST New winger

I'm keeping Grealish in there because we kept him against all odds last summer and as he's a Villa and we'll want a lot of money he might still stay. If he goes we should bring in Mount or Wilson, we should add someone like Maupay up front, a new DM like Chalobah and play a vibrant, high press attacking style of play and try to dominate every game.

This season is pretty much over now.

Forgot Guilbert had signed, I hate seeing so many loans as doesn't do the team any favours

Mings is more realistic than Tuanzebe probably, unfortunately I cant see Grealish staying either

I like Bjarnason and he could be the DM imo given a chance or at least in a two beside McGinn

Kalinic
RB - Chester - T.Mings - LB
Bjarnason - J.McGinn
A.Green - AM - Adomah
Kodjia

minimum 4 new starters and 4/5 new players on top but realistically will that happen?

Sorry Guilbert at RB

I seem to be less despondent about last night than you lot. Smith knew what Brentford could do, decided we couldn't compete in their game, and, probably against his own instincts, set out to defend. Given that, thought we defended well and the players sweated their guts out. Brentford created few chances, and goal apart Kalinic dealt with those chances comfortably. As we approached 90 minutes they began to fade and I thought we were more likely to knick it; unfortunately they did.

Going forwards, we're missing Jack and it's not clear how we compensate. Looking towards next season, there'll be a lot of changes whether we go up or not; we need a younger, fitter and more balanced squad. In the meantime we have to do the best we can with what we have.

Re the players we keep assuming we don't go up, to the ones above I'd also consider:
Elphick - think he's doing OK, would keep if we can't buy Tuanzebe
Hause - considering last night was probably his first serious match for a long time, thought he did OK
Taylor - done better than expected, possible backup
Hutton - possible backup
Tshibola - bit surprised he wasn't brought back

Ones I have doubts about:
Barney - has never had two good matches running
Green - this is his breakthrough season and he has to break through
Davis - likewise
El Ghazi - has talent but needs to do more

Obviously if by some chance we go up then Mings and Abraham are worth keeping if we can.

comment by villa1987 (U6870)

posted 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

Totally agree, we have been a shambles for weeks

------------------------

In fairness you've been a shambles for about 8 seasons

I seem to be less despondent about last night than you lot. Smith knew what Brentford could do, decided we couldn't compete in their game, and, probably against his own instincts, set out to defend.

.............................................

Next season we have to dominate games on a regular basis - this is what Smith was brought in to do, play with a swagger, press high up the pitch and keep the ball on the ground. We were doing it with Grealish earlier on in the season against Derby and Boro and creating lots of chances, since Jack's been out Smith hasn't been able to do it. Unfortunately, and this is where Smith gets stick, we've not only played poorly and been outplayed a lot, but haven't been able to grind out wins playing poorly either. It's ok playing like last night if we get the win or even just a draw, but to lose playing like that gets a lot of fans downbeat.

Hence, the solution is to get rid of anyone who can't play that style, which is I think most of the players we've mentioned above. We need to be bringing in players who are young, fit, hungry, and have technical ability. The lads at Brentford last night all looked decent so clearly Smith's recruitment is quite good, so he needs a full preseason before he's judged. But things have to improve and it's very disappointing how we've stagnated so much since Jack got injured.