30 Jan 2021 22:12:11
So for once VAR goes for us, never was it offside and it was definitely a pen, but after some of the decisions that have gone against us, Watkins in particular, I don't care😂

Traore really did my head in the other night, he was lazy and his attitude stank. Tonight he was everything I want in a player, he didn't have the rub of the green going forward but his head didn't drop, and defensively he did everything you can ask, really really liked his performance and application. I hope we see this week in week out.

Only negative for me was the lack of subs? And everyone on here regular will know I'll back smith to the hilt, what he's done at villa is nothing short of a miracle to me. However I thought we looked knackered come the 70th minute yet we never made subs, especially with a game on Wednesday surely at least two subs would have been worth while.

Anyway, good to win when maybe we haven't played our best, considering we were brilliant at times against Burnley and West Ham and ended up losing!

1.) 31 Jan 2021
31 Jan 2021 09:18:23
I was screaming for subs every time the ball went out for the last 20 minutes.
Barkley and Traore were past the point of being able to press or track back properly and it nearly cost us a couple of times.
Trez and Sanson/ Nakamba would have given us the fresh legs we needed, especially down Cash's side.
I can see either Cash or Targett getting a bad injury one of these days with the amount they have to get about due to lack of support.

2.) 31 Jan 2021
31 Jan 2021 10:15:19
Couldn’t agree more that subs should have been used. Barkley and Traoré were on their last legs and surely keeping players on at that stage increases the risk of injuries. It also makes defending a one goal lead a lot more difficult. Deano got away with it fortunately, but would have come in for a huge amount of criticism had it backfired. If the whole team were playing well and the fluidity was still there, I could have understood it, but it clearly wasn’t the case.
Luckily for us VAR saved the day, but come on, VAR owed us one or two, so we’ll call it quits for now. 😁.

3.) 31 Jan 2021
31 Jan 2021 11:05:24
Yep, I was screaming there with you. Reminds me of the MON days, he wouldn’t use subs in a lot of games.

4.) 31 Jan 2021
31 Jan 2021 12:22:45
I feel a lot of our recent success has come from Smith being more flexible on his subs and making them earlier. The last couple of games he has reverted to his previous thinking and we're back to struggling to see the game out.
Hopefully he analyses that in the next few days.