Well, I’m truly happy to say I called this one totally wrong.
I didn’t get to the game and only got to listen to the WM commentary for the final half hour or so.
We were missing chance after chance and it seemed like it wasn’t going to be our day, as I could see Derby catching us with a sucker punch.
It wasn’t to be though and it was great to hear that McGinn had scored. Imagine my joy when the goal was soon followed by a second and then a third!
And then, to cap it all, the WM commentators were saying that this was easily our best performance this season and even our best performance in a very long time.
On the face of it, it would seem that Dean Smith can indeed get the team to produce top performances that have previously been so lacking, as much as the players look good on paper.
What excites me about that and has me licking my lips in anticipation, is if he can get us to play to the max, there’s probably more to come.
And given that we could possibly have beaten a side that were being touted as one to watch this season by six or seven goals on their own turf, that bodes really well. You would expect that this result has made the rest of the league sit up and take notice.
After the final whistle, I spoke to my Derby mate (who had called me pre-match, to wish us the best of luck for the rest of the season, “after we’ve annihilated you”).
His opinion was that the first half could have been 2-2, but in the second half they were sh*te and we played really well, fully deserving the result. He’s quite balanced when it comes to footy.
Then, I specifically asked what he thought about Grealish and the reply was interesting.
His opinion is that he’s a decent player, but goes down way too easily.
I pointed out that he gets us a lot of free kicks, but unprompted, he said “maybe, but he slows down your game far too much and ruins your impetus”. He went on to say that all our best play happened when he wasn’t actually involved and he’d probably be more suited to the Premier league.
It’s certainly a valid viewpoint and one I touched on last week, where some Villa fans would be sympathetic.
Not that I’m criticising.
How can you, after such a brilliant result?
Best of all though, is that this is a massive confidence booster, not long before the blues game, where up until now, I’d been having nagging doubts that we’d win against them.
The bonus is that we’ve moved above them in the league on goal difference.
Three goals away, to a team on a roll, with a clean sheet thrown in, has made my weekend.
It’s as simple as that.
