Match Day Thread Southampton v Aston Villa, Fri 5th Nov, 8pm

In other words, he’d rather have Chelsea or City’s squad, but he’ll work with what he’s got because he’s a professional

 

Late to this conversation as I couldn’t watch the game till after -

What a fantastic team performance that was in the first half. I watched with a Spurs fan and he was amazed at the football we were playing. I was hugely impressed. Quick, direct, aggressive, just brilliant to watch. We caught Villa out with our passing thru the middle as I think they came out with a plan to shut the wide areas down by kicking three shades of **** out of our 18 year old RB and that worked but they weren't expecting razor sharp passing down the middle. Loved it. Once again, we win squeaky when we should have had it sorted at halftime but I'm hoping we get that under control before too long.

Villa sacking Smith is a travesty. They don't have a champions league side as much as they want to believe it. They will be looking at Ralph without a doubt as will every side outside the top 6. We are a lot better than casual observers and demanding fans might be prepared to acknowledge.

Looking at the rest of the results this week we have an incredibly competitive league and to be where we are after the fixtures we've had is no mean feat. Bravo Saints.

 

Also, looking the U23 and the U18 results recently we are looking to be in very good shape. Exciting times.

 

The challenge for Smith was that the club had spent about £400m on transfers and have a massive wage bill so they expect Villa to be challenging for top four not struggling in mid table. Thats the challenge the new manager will face, expectations are massive both from the board and the delusional fans who consider themselves to be akin to Manchester United
Don't envy the next manager

 

Times reporting Ralph on Villa’s short list for Smith replacement. Would he go?

 

No.