Well, this is good news for a change.
Dean Smith has confirmed that Jack Grealish will be available for the visit of Derby on Saturday, although there is some doubt that he’ll actually start.
You’d expect that if he doesn’t start Smith will be itching to give him at least a few minutes and it wouldn’t surprise me if he even gets the second half, if we’re not doing too well.
Personally, I think we have to manage our expectations as to what to expect from him in his first game in weeks.
I don’t see him turning us round straight from the off, as he’s going to be rusty and off the pace (what pace is that then? I hear you ask).
But this will be a massive fillip for the fans and probably the players too.
Wouldn’t it be great if he plays well and leads us to a victory on his return though?
Oh, there’s also good news regarding Alan Hutton.
It seems his injury isn’t as bad as feared and we might see him back before the end of the season.
I know some of us can’t stand him, but I don’t think anyone can fault his effort and it’d be nice to see him get a good send-off.
Do we think Smith will throw him straight in?
No, on the bench he’s almost intermated as much Badger, there’s no two-ways we’ve missed him badly. But it’s pretty obvious unless a miracle we have another season in the championship.
Yep – have to start him on the bench but would expect him to get 20 minutes or so. Let’s hope Derby don’t try and kick him off the pitch.
He got kicked and injured at West Brom and to add insult to that they equalised with a hand ball – cheating bar stewards.
Seeing as promotion won’t happen this season, I see no point in rushing him back. I would start with the team that finished Stoke game seeing as we played well 2nd half. Carroll is also fit so I would rather risk him if needed. Maybe give Grealish a run out for last 15 minutes. Ideally he would be 100% ready for Small Heath but is it worth risking him being kicked around the pitch by them unless we have to. Good news that Hutton should be back for end of season so he can get his assumed farewell game. After Derby game Smith could be spoilt for choice in midfield when McGinn returns from suspension. Has anyone heard anything about when Tuanzebe will be back.
I believe Tuanzebe is not far off Holte.
I’m not sure on the details.
Here you go, from the OS;
“Smith expects Axel Tuanzebe, who is currently rehabbing at Manchester United, to be back at Bodymoor Heath in early March – and initial hopes are that he could be available just after the international break.”
Sheffield Wednesday 2 up, Scum winning, Leeds loosing And the weather’s unbelievable. Funny old world.
Well, Wednesday now above us and, no doubt, Small Heath will be favourites to beat us. How depressing.
Wednesday for Play-offs with Bruce to mastermind Premier League return. Any takers?
More like the Scum for play off as well, 10 place off the bottom jesus we are struggling, BFR you could be right. some say its the managers, i say its the players fault. Wake up Villa for christ sake.
Or maybe the club is cursed? 🙂
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47377838
try this quiz about the club – how many can you get?
I really couldn’t care less about Bruce and Wednesday. It will be nice to get Grealish back in the side, but we need to ensure that he isn’t pushed too hard too fast as a further breakdown is the last thing we need. The season isn’t over yet, and we need to improve significantly but I don’t think we are a lost cause just yet. A couple of wins and we will be back on track.
I like your optimism DSVilla although after looking at the table which I have tried hard to avoid doing recently, I can see we are 8 points off playoffs having played a game more. Therefore we would need to win 5 on the trot to get back amongst it and we didn’t manage that during our purple patch shortly after Smith joined. I just want us to finish the season above Small Heath which would purely be bragging rights. Even that is looking bleak unless they get a points reduction. Grealish returning is a boost but I’m not expecting an instant impact. It will take him a few games to get up to speed.
I’m always optimistic until Villa crush that out of me! I can be miserable then but at least I can be deluded now 😉