Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath has delivered his verdict on his former club’s 4-2 win over Birmingham City on Sunday.
Villa had to come from 1-0 down to secure all three points here, taking the lead with two goals in just two minutes from Jonathan Kodjia and Jack Grealish, with Tammy Abraham and Alan Hutton wrapping up the victory in the second half.
McGrath was more than delighted with the result, declaring how “proud” he was of every player that was involved on Sunday via his personal Twitter account, whilst also praising boss Dean Smith for bringing the “pride” back to the club.
https://twitter.com/Paulmcgrath5/status/1066693152843673601
He said: “So proud of every player involved today. Dean Smith bringing the pride back to Aston Villa. Thank you #UTV #Respect”.
OPINION
Aston Villa would have no doubt had their morale boosted by the fact that they secured such a convincing win over local rivals Birmingham. Birmingham are by no means easy opponents, but Villa really made a meal of them at Villa Park. They did not know where to look after Villa scored two in two minutes to put themselves ahead, and after that, the hosts were largely dominant. Yes, they almost surrendered their lead when Birmingham pulled one back to make it 3-2, but Alan Hutton netted an incredible individual effort to put everything to bed. McGrath is right – Smith has brought the “pride” back to the club with a turnaround in results, and fans will no doubt have their fingers crossed that he can eventually lead them to promotion after failing to do so last year under Bruce. The players have had their confidence restored, which may just salvage their season.